Photos by Andrew Weitz
Story by Adriana Pérez
While writing “If You Wanna Be Adored,” Eva Rose realized that her interest in someone had a lot to do with ego. She was drawn to that person precisely because they seemed so uninterested in her. Recognizing that required a certain amount of emotional distance, the same perspective that allowed her to find humor in the experiences that shaped “The Last Laugh,” her debut album.
The project brings together 13 songs born from two years spent navigating the end of a relationship and its immediate aftermath, from the doubts that can be difficult to admit to the confidence to fall in love again.
Released through Nettwerk Music Group, the album blends distorted guitars, pop melodies, and a candidness that sometimes confronts its own contradictions.
The Los Angeles-born singer-songwriter, who studied songwriting at NYU, arrives at the release after several independent EPs that have amassed millions of streams. With Ben Zelico serving as executive producer, she found room to explore what each song needed and let its sound take shape organically.
“The Last Laugh” turns a breakup into a story that feels hopeful, funny, and sometimes defiant. When did you realize those songs belonged together on an album?
As I was writing, I pretty much knew from the beginning that all these songs were in conversation with each other in some way. Almost all of them stem from the same seed, and they were all stories from a specific 2-year period of my life when I was navigating the end of a relationship and the immediate aftermath. I often use humor to process and cope with heartache, so injecting a level of humor into some of the songs felt like the most honest way to convey the story. I also think writing about a breakup from the other side of it helped give it nuance because, by that point, I was able to have a new perspective on the situation and find the humor and hope in it.
You’ve said writing these songs was therapeutic. Did writing any particular song reveal something about the experience that you hadn’t fully understood before?
I usually like to write about a subject once I’ve had some distance from it emotionally so I can have a clearer lens on it. I think writing from that place allows me to uncover my true feelings and motivations without any judgment or defensiveness. I think “If You Wanna Be Adored” is a good example of that. Writing it, I realized my feelings for the person came entirely from a place of ego rather than the heart; a place of chasing something that seemed unattainable and realizing the only reason I was so interested in this person was because of their seemingly complete lack of interest in me.
“Next Girl,” “Scaring Everyone,” and “Give Me A Good Reason” approach relationships from very different places. How do you find the right voice for each experience when you turn it into a song?
When I go into a writing session, I always come prepared with the concept and title in most cases. For me, the hook is the thesis statement of the song, and it’s fun to hone in on the narrative voice from there.
Throughout “The Last Laugh,” you make room for anger, humor, and the freedom to move on. What did writing the album teach you about speaking up for yourself, both in relationships and in your music?
Working on this project definitely gave me a lot more confidence to be very honest about my feelings early on in any situation. On songs like “Left You First” or “Give Me A Good Reason,” I struggle with knowing the answer but not acting on it out of fear of rocking the boat. Working on those songs allowed me to reflect and realize that I’m better off being honest about my feelings from the start rather than forcing something that clearly isn’t meant for me.
You’ve worked with Ben Zelico for a long time, and he executive produced this album. What did he understand about these songs that helped you find their sound?
One of my favorite things about working with Ben is he never approaches a song with a preconceived idea of what it should be. I personally just like to make music that I like to listen to, and oftentimes we write from a place of thinking no one will ever hear the song except for us, so it gives a lot of freedom to have fun and focus on making something that’s exciting. Ben’s a total chameleon in the sense that he just knows what I like and what the song calls for sonically. Yes, there’s a sonic cohesiveness to the album overall, but I never want “my sound” to limit what a song can be. Like “Give Me a Good Reason” – it actually started off quite country because, to me, that felt like the right place to start, and we eventually found our way to something a lil more 90s Michelle Branch-y, which felt like such a fit. We want to get to a place where I think, “The song is intended to sound just like this and no other way.” Like putting together a puzzle, and once it all comes together, it’s as if there were no other way it could be. “It’s Not Me” is one of the earlier songs we wrote, and we knew it should be much more moody and dark—at that point, we had only worked on “Isn’t It Scary,” so we had no idea what we wanted anything to sound like, but we were just committed to having fun and making something that felt exciting.
You grew up listening to artists like Avril Lavigne, My Chemical Romance, and Paramore, then studied songwriting at NYU. Which parts of those early influences still show up in the way you write today?
All of the music I was obsessed with as a kid is all over this album. Although those artists are clearly “from a time and place” in music, their work is so timeless to me.
After releasing several independent EPs, what changed for you creatively when you began making your first full-length album?
I feel like this time around I was far more intentional. Before, I would write and record a lot of music that I loved and would package it all together after the fact, but this time around I knew I was writing an album. I didn’t have any idea when it would come out or how, but I knew it was time to work on a full-length debut project.
Now that “The Last Laugh” is out, which ideas or experiences are you most excited to explore next?
I’ve written a lot about heartbreak, but now I’m excited to write about falling in love! I usually never do because I find it quite corny, but I think with time and growing older I’ve found a way to take an idea that’s been done to death and make it feel like mine. Overall, I’m just excited for any new experiences life will throw at me and to see what I can make of them creatively.
“I’ve written a lot about heartbreak, but now I’m excited to write about falling in love!”
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