Inside the Artistry: Brooke Annibale ‘Better By Now’

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

Brooke Annibale is an artist who is able to inspire her listeners with her story which translates into her music. As the world comes out of a pandemic, Brooke is showing us how she spent her time. Crafting an album that represents so many elements or emotions and head vs. heart, ‘Better By Now’ introduces us to a fundamental core of musical goodness.

In her trademark layered approach, Better By Now features 10 blossoming indie-pop tracks that Brooke described as a “spectrum of emotions.” Take a listen as Brooke talks about making significant strides in her mental-health journey and reflects on love, anxiety, depression, and how two seemingly opposing forces can exist at once.

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About Brooke Annibale:

Over the last four years, it’s become normal to think, “Well, if we can just make it through this life-altering event, things will be better.” Whether it’s a global pandemic, or a tumultuous election, a period of depression, or an economic recession–we keep expecting to cross the“better” finish line. And when things get really bad, who do we want to have by our side? With whom do we want to face the hardest times? This is the process that led singer-songwriter Brooke Annibale to title her new album better By Now. On her gorgeous fourth album, which follows 2018’sHold To The Light, the Pittsburgh-born, Rhode Island-based performer has both redefined her sound and entered a new phase of life. After making significant strides in her mental-health journey by saying “I do” to her wife, Brooke has never been more excited to share a new collection of songs. It took a lot to get here. Written in early 2021, Better By Now features 10 blossoming indie-pop

Brooke Annibale. Photo By: Shervin Lainez

tracks that Brooke describes as a “spectrum of emotions.” In her trademark layered approach, Brooke reflects on love, anxiety, and how two seemingly opposing forces can exist at once.“Better By Now is almost 50% about falling in love and 50% about depression and anxiety,” she says. “And what that means in my life and how that applies to the world we’re in right now.”Nowhere is this more evident than on Better By Now’s title track, which Brooke wrote in the post-election months. “Better By Now” merges the personal with the roller coaster of current events, with Brooke singing about the nature of depression and how the way you feel inside is not always related to what’s happening in the outside world. “I think people think depression is always circumstantial, but it’s not,” she says. “You can feel down on a day where really good things are happening. That was something I was really working towards–just being more even and balanced.”Brooke’s arc is also reflected on the lush, dreamy opening track “What If You,” which digs into the mixed emotions she had around maintaining her music career and also acknowledging the complicated nature of the beginning of a new romantic relationship. “I was like, is diving back into music career stuff gonna knock out any mental-health progress I’ve made? Can I put out a fourth record, be vulnerable, and do the whole cycle again? And then I realized: It’s a double-meaning metaphor. What if everything that I loved loved me back? What if I just did this? And it worked.”Later, the mid-tempo “5 AM” finds an easy groove with echoing, reverb-affected percussion, while Brooke layers her vocals over flowing synths. “It’s completely about falling in love with my wife,” she reveals of “5 AM,” adding: “It’s when we realized, ‘I think that we might like eachother a little bit, that we would stay up this late talking. It’s the journey of falling in love. The first verse was basically me envisioning, what would our wedding day be like? And what do I want on that day? I was like, I wanna dance. I wanna cry. I wanna laugh. It sounds kind of corny, but those are all things that ended up being very true on our wedding day.”

On “Things We Don’t Believe Anymore,” Brooke contrasts her Christian upbringing with the way society has evolved around LGBTQ+ issues. She also touches on self-acceptance and learning that some old friendships are best left in the past. “When I was coming out, there was only one friend that I had a really poor conversation with,” she recalls. “They equated how I love to their deepest flaws and worst sins. I just realized: I don’t believe that anymore.”On the bolder “Be Around,” Brooke felt inspired to lean more into her pop sensibilities, citing inspiration from both Andy Shauf (one of her favorite singer-songwriters) and an evening covering Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova.” Brooke also tried a simpler thematic approach, writing a straightforward love ballad about just wanting to be in someone’s company as much as possible. “I don’t have a lot of songs that aren’t exhaustingly layered with emotion,” she laughs.“But this is one of those that’s just kind of like, I just wanna be around this person, and I’m gonna sing about it.”Likewise, writing the openhearted love ballad “One Of Those Songs” marked a healing moment for Brooke. Against a gauzy melody, Brooke reflects on meeting the person you want to tackle life’s obstacles with. “Life can feel chaotic,” she acknowledges. “But if you’re with that person and you’re working through it together, then that’s okay.”