Press Conference: Renforshort
Words by Isabelle Turner
If there is one thing that makes rising artist renforshort so remarkable, it is her inevitable desire to make music that is vulnerable and real. Lauren Iseberg, known professionally as renforshort, released her debut album, dear amelia, a deeply personal ode to growing up and leaving behind a part of herself.
With honest and catchy songs like “fuck, i luv my friends”, “hate the way you love me”, and “i drive me mad”, Iseberg has garnered millions of streams. Her music, composed from personal experiences, opens difficult topics of conversation, making her music unapologetically authentic.
renforshort’s debut EP, dear amelia, captures the journey of growing up. She discusses the fleeting moments that are filled with joy, love, and hardships. Unafraid to discuss difficult topics like depression, anxiety, and self-acceptance, the album is lyrically powerful and relatable for many.
“Amelia is a character. All of the songs are basically addressed to her. The thing about Amelia, is that while she's a character, she's also me. She is basically the personification of this part of my brain that I put so much stress on…Eventually something goes wrong and you lose a part of yourself.”
Extremely passionate about the healing power of music, renforshort used that passion in her dear amelia letter writing campaign. Preparing for the release of her debut album, she asked fans to write letters telling ‘amelia’ anything.
“You write this letter, you drop it in a mailbox and forget about it. Once it gets to the P.O. box, we just dispose of it. It’s like get all of this off of your chest, how it feels for me to write a song…It's just like one step closer to being able to talk about your feelings. It’s kind of a practice which is really cool, super cathartic.”
Even more inspiring, at 20 years old, the young artist is unafraid to be passionate and speak her voice. She continues to push for her ideas, knowing that her age can be a deterrent.
“I still think young artists are looked at as young people. And that’s really annoying. I don’t think any traditional values have gone away yet. It's a step that needs to be taken. No one thinks a 17 year old can make decisions about her life but you expect someone to come out of high school who's 17 or 18 and be like ‘this is what I want to do with my life’. We know what we want to do. I know what I want to do. I’ve always known what I’ve wanted to do. You’ll always need to be a little bit louder, I’ve always needed to be a little bit louder.”
While renforshort is undoubtedly going to be a massive success, looking towards the future, she just hopes for three things: “the ability to continue to make music my entire life, having the opportunity to play an arena, and being able to help as many people as possible through my music - including myself.”
Be sure to listen to her debut album dear amelia here, and be sure to follow renforshort on social media for more of her music.