Emily Frost: If It Hurts, You’ll Know It’s Going to Get Better

I asked the singer about her music, her songwriting, and the movies that inspired her new EP.

By Michael Hartmann. April 5, 2024.

Meet Emily Frost. She is a half-British and half-Finnish singer-songwriter and producer from Helsinki, Finland. Her music is a combination of Finnish melancholy, vulnerable lyrics, groovy beats and R&B influenced vocals.

Her third EP features singles Jump (into cold water) and White picket fences. It was released on March 29th. Her new songs tell vulnerable stories about navigating the world as a twenty-something, and were influenced by movies such as Lost in translation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Here are Emily’s answers about her latest project.

-What can you tell us about your new EP? How will you describe your songs? And what inspired you to make them?

-The songs of my new EP are about navigating adulthood, particularly your early 20s and things that we all come across in life: feelings of alienation, trying to find out who you are, what your purpose is and so forth.

-Those thoughts came from my own life, as in my early twenties I struggled with mental health. In recent years I have felt some pressure to fit in a certain mold as a woman in her late twenties, which inspired the opening track white picket fences.

This is Jump (into cold water) from her new EP:

Emily was inspired by Lost in translation, a romantic film from 2003, written and directed by Sofia Coppola.

-In what way did this movie influence your music?

-In Lost in Translation they tackle those themes of alienation, which I could relate to. Also the cinematography and soundtrack of the film inspired me a lot.

She was also inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a romantic film from 2004, starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Gerry Robert Byrne, Elijah Wood.

-In what way?

-I was watching that movie in the background, when I was working on Only I Know. It is a melodramatic heartbreak ballad. I personally haven’t experienced one, but that movie made me think about what you loose, when a relationship ends. You’ll have to say goodbye to all the good things along with the bad, which inspired me to write the song.

This is Make Me Feel better:

Can you tell us a about the songwriting process?

-I wanted the EP to be cohesive, which was a bit of a struggle at the beginning of the process. I had a lot of songs that didn’t fit well together. I had to scrap many songs and start all over, but I think it worked out well in the end. It doesn’t help that I’m extremely self-critical.

-This time around I created these songs only for myself. I had no interest in making a super commercial pop record. I just wanted to express myself and experiment as a producer.

-Can you share a piece of feedback or a compliment a fan has given you, and how this made you feel?

-A girl once reached out to me on Instagram and told me how much she could relate to my song To hell with it. It’s incredibly touching when someone appreciates the music and can relate to the lyrics.

Here is Emily’s EP. Enjoy!