Vita and The Woolf, aka Jen Pague, has announced the May 8 release of Anna Ohio via Tender Loving Empire, the follow up to her 2017 debut TUNNELS. To celebrate the announcement, she has shared the music video for her new song "Operator." Listen below! Pre-order Anna Ohio HERE.
"'Operator' is about me finding my dog, Xena, a new home after moving to Los Angeles," says Pague. "It's about dealing with those emotions of cutting ties, making sacrifices, and leaving behind the past in order to move on to a new place in life. The video is about getting lost in outer space, searching for Xena. After an almost deadly space crash, we land somewhere new and strange-meeting lovely aliens and eating space BBQ." The track follows her empowering anthem "Mess Up," which she released at the top of the year.
Anna Ohio is a fictional character. But Anna Ohio, the album, is a very real pilgrimage of self-discovery. The album's interconnected songs tell a self-referential story about a flawed but strong character striving for reinvention. As Anna, Pague's dreamlike examination of life under late-stage capitalism ("Home," "Auntie Anne's Waitress") and desire for escape ("Operator") are somehow more real than reality: they're a direct line out from a soul-searching heart and mind. The album is both patient and hook-filled. The understated guitar work echoes Elliott Smith, and the inventive drum patterns of Pague's longtime bandmate and friend Adam Shumski give the songs a rare rhythmic depth.
A remarkably intimate Pop record packed with both electric imagery and deep vulnerability, Anna Ohio is a magic dance that oscillates between empowering anthems and open-hearted diary entries. The mellow moments support the explosive ones; the loving lyrical details support the big themes. The album feels like facing an ego, killing it, and then rebuilding, or confronting addiction, depression, and self-doubt through the overhaul of one's personality.
Anna Ohio represents the first time Pague has written and recorded an album that executes her vision exactly. It's what Pague, who recently moved to Los Angeles, has been driving at since she broke into the Philadelphia music scene at the age of 20, lugging her keyboard around and sneaking into bars to play open mics: a vulnerable, honest album that disregards genre conventions in favor of pure expression. Where her 2017 album Tunnels brought stadium-level energy on almost every track, Anna Ohio is an exercise in subtlety and restraint.
Most importantly, Anna Ohio is Jen Pague's vision through and through. She built it with her own hands. In the process of writing and recording the album, she found the sound she had been searching for. And, through Anna, she told a story worth telling.
"I gave up something while writing this record," Pague says. "Anna Ohio holds my pain, the thoughts of not being good enough to date, hire, love, and respect. It holds my energy and refusal to quit being a human. It holds what I find beautiful when things somehow work out. And itʼs a tip of the hat to the people who support and love me."
Vita and the Woolf will HIT THE ROAD next month for a week of dates starting in Los Angeles before heading east to Brooklyn in May to kick off a run of eight shows. Tickets for all dates are available now at vitaandthewoolf.com. A full list of tour dates can be found below, with more to be added.
Vita and the Woolf Tour Dates
Mar 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
Mar 22 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of the Hill
Mar 25 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile Back Bar
Mar 26 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Mar 28 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival
May 06 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
May 07 - Washington, DC @ DC9
May 08 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
May 09 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
May 12 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunk Unicorn
May 13 - Nashville, TV @ The Basement
May 14 - Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlie's
May 15 - Louisville, KY @ Zbar
