“I want other people to be playing the main character in my songs.” Anna Of The North admits halfway through our sit-down chat. We are backstage at her headline Sydney show in September, and she’s flown straight in from Melbourne where she was up all night catching up with friends. The Norwegian pop singer is no stranger to Australia after having previously lived in Melbourne while studying, and she’s very excited to be back and playing shows again. The shows have been intimate affairs full of singalongs and sweaty dancing, and that’s exactly what she wants them to be.  

Her candid songwriting feels personal but also universally relatable, and just like her mission statement, her fans have vividly placed themselves into her songs and given them a whole new life. Her recent album “Crazy Life” is an immersive record that has spawned so many fan favourites like “Bird Sing”, “I Do You”, “Nobody”, “Meteorite” and “Dandelion”. 

Diving into translating this record to the live stage, I chatted with Anna Of The North about how touring has changed her perspective on some of the songs on the record, reflected on what Australian trait has lived on with her since moving back to Norway, and dived into the deluxe edition of “Crazy Life”. Check out the full chat BELOW;

THOMAS BLEACH: Your third studio album “Crazy Life” has been out for 10 months and it’s truly this soothing and cathartic-leaning pop record. From touring this record, and seeing how fans have reacted and had their own relationships with the songs, have you found that your relationship with any of the tracks have changed?

ANNA OF THE NORTH: It’s quite fun to see as we all have our favourite songs and what we know really works. Like with “Nobody”, it’s a song that just goes really hard live. And then you have “Not Good Without U” which I have a whole new perspective on and I wish I could re-record it because you learn to understand the songs more when you perform them, and the more energy you give to them it begins to slowly fall into place. 

TB: Is the live version of “Not Good Without U” different to the studio version? 

AOTN: Yeah, a bit different, but not too much either. Energy wise, it’s quite similar to the record, but I just feel like it goes harder live, and it feels cooler if that makes sense. 

TB: When you started to build out the live show for this album, how did the songs translate? Did you find there was a bit of movement at all to find its live groove?

AOTN: It’s hard now as I have so many songs. So choosing the songs is really difficult. I’ve gone from my first album where the shows were quite low key, to this show where I’ve chosen to go quite energetic. I feel like there are two different performances I can give, and we’re quite organic in the way I do live shows. Like in New Zealand we did a pop-up gig just for fun. There weren’t many people there and we just jammed out and asked people what they wanted to hear. It turned out really cool, and we made some acoustic versions up on the spot which I loved. I don’t want every show to be the same. I want it to feel like it’s a moment you’ll never have again. 

I talk a lot in my shows. There’s not really a plan, It’s like the Anna Of The North comedy show as well *laughs*. I also usually end my set with “Believe” by Cher playing over the speakers and I just jump into the crowd and dance with everyone. 

TB: Did any of the songs not translate to the live realm when you were in rehearsals or once you started the tour?

AOTN: Yeah, definitely. It depends where I’m in the world as some songs don’t translate in different territories. I did “Try My Best” yesterday and I didn’t like it. I could tell that no one had really heard it here, but it’s a song that works really well when I play it at festivals. 

TB: Has there been a song from the record that has surprised you with how fans have reacted live?

AOTN: I would say “Nobody” and “No Good Without U” have surprised me the most with how much the fans are reacting to it live. 

TB: We are currently sitting backstage at your Sydney headline show on your Australian tour, and you actually used to live in Melbourne. So is there a part of Australian or Melbourne culture that you would say has continued to live on with you?

AOTN: I think definitely my view on creativity and life. In Norway we have something called Janetloven, where it’s not supposed to be said. And I remember moving here and people were so much more open minded with their dreams and what they wanted to be, and they would say it out loud. In Norway, if I said I want to be a musician, everyone would be like… *silence*… 

So I feel like people here manifest more, and they talk about stuff open. I was meeting people who were authors, even though they hadn’t released books. And people who were musicians, even though they hadn’t released music. They were just what they wanted to be. So I’ve definitely kept that with me. 

TB: Let’s now dive into your recent record “Crazy Life”. The album opens with “Bird Sing” and these beautiful bird noises that have this tranquility to it, and calmly brings you into the world of the album. What I specifically loved about this was the contrast of this tender and soothing production with honest lyricism like “I open my eyes, and then I realize, you’re no longer here. That I haven’t felt good for a while. No, I haven’t felt good for a while”. How important was it for you to have this distinct sonical and lyrical contrast for this song?

AOTN: In writing there’s always this balance that I need in my songs where there’s sadness but there’s also hope. I want to make you feel and cry, but also make you dance. I want you to feel all the emotions. And that is specifically the case with this song, and I think it’s a really good example of what I want to do as an artist. 

I want other people to be playing the main character in my songs. I want them to listen to the lyrics and find their own story within it. My favourite lyric in that song is “Build the fortress, to get enough rest. Until I get back on my feet”. I love that sentiment that we stay inside to recharge and still have that hope that it will all pass and we will still get there. 

TB: “Living Life Right” hears you asking the very human question; “maybe I’m not living life right”. I feel like this is something that is so universal, and I know that I always find myself asking this question. Even after writing this song, do you still find yourself questioning that? 

AOTN: Yeah, like every day. But yeah, I do. There’s no answers though, you just have to follow your gut feeling. But if I really think about it, we’re probably not living it right, at all. Honestly. There is no rulebook. I was thinking about it in the view of the bigger world’s perspective, and we’re kind of fucking up, aren’t we? 

TB: Earlier this year you released the deluxe edition of ‘Crazy Life” with the addition of three new songs. Were these tracks ones that were left off the initial record and felt like they specifically belonged in this era, or were they written after as you felt like the album’s story and overall feeling hadn’t completely finished?

AOTN: I didn’t feel like they fit on the album originally. I felt like the story was finished with “Let Go”, which it kind of says in the title itself. The album starts with “Birds Sing” where you wake up in the morning, and then it ends at night where you kind of have to let go of everything, all the overthinking, and you just have to go and rest. So when I agreed to doing the deluxe edition I agreed that I was adding to the story and bringing some new perspectives to the album. 

TB: “Try My Best” was my favourite of the deluxe tracks and it was because of the lyric; “yeah we both got feelings, but sometimes we can not feel a single thing.” Do you remember writing this lyric?

AOTN: We had different lyrics in the pre-chorus originally, but I felt like I needed to say that line twice. But yeah that lyric is the truth. The song is about getting too comfortable. I feel like that during COVID, that I was a bit dead inside. I felt really flat. And I think it’s not until recently that I actually feel alive again.

TB: For the album release you created the very interactive website “Annascrazylife” which had a lot of little easter eggs. One of my favourite’s was the pasta recipe. What were some of the things you personally loved about designing and creating those little easter eggs for this record?

AOTN: My favorite part was that you could listen to snippets of the album. It was a massive scavenger hunt and it was so fun to create. My least favorite inclusion was probably like “follow my newsletter” *laughs*. 

My absolute favourite thing though, was when you zoomed up and there was just your face peeking into the house.

AOTN: *Laughs* that always makes me giggle. I thought it was quite thematic. I love bringing people into the world and showing them everything. 

“Crazy Life” is out now!