The Berlin-based artist on a song that inspires her to let go
The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!
Anna Erhard’s music exists in that hazy space between indie rock and offbeat pop, where dry wit and deadpan delivery meet angular guitars and restless beats. Originally from Switzerland, now based in Berlin, she first caught attention with Basel’s folk-leaning Serafyn before stepping out solo, swapping acoustic delicacy for something more unpredictable.
Her latest album, Botanical Garden, is a further evolution of her idiosyncratic sound—more wired, more playful, with Anna turning mundane observations into strangely addictive earworms. The title hints at something lush, but Erhard’s garden is full of overgrown thoughts and half-remembered conversations, set to clattering rhythms and sun-faded synths. Tracks like “Horoscope” and “Teenage Earworm” toy with nostalgia but refuse to settle into it, while “170” turns a casual argument over someone’s height into a hook-laden, side-eyed anthem.
For her One Track Mind selection, Anna has picked out a song the humor and charm of which is reflected in much of her own work.
Anna Erhard on The Roches – Quitting Time
I‘ve been listening to the Roches quite often over the years. I never paid so much attention to the Song Quitting Time but lately I’ve been obsessed with it. I recently heard it playing in the background and it suddenly made me realise that I had been stuck in a loop of thoughts for a while and need to get out of it.
I guess, taken literally, the song is about quitting your job and finally start living the life you’ve been wanting to live, about the moment when you’re about to make a big decision and you have made up your mind about it. But when I listened to the song in that moment I just heard: quit thinking! Usually this kind of imperative doesn’t work well for me at all and would cause me to do the opposite instead, but since it came in form of a song with so much humor and charm it worked exactly in that way.
I love the chorus, this simple descending melody sung by the three sisters almost unisono is very grounding. And the words sometimes fit into this melody in a very unusual way. This song tells me: don’t try to be too rational, take it lightly & go with your intuition. The “moment of letting go” is always when I feel inspired to write. Letting go of a grudge, a sadness, whatever it is.
You can go south in winter
Be what you are a goose
Honk all the moon out the ocean
Your clothes can fit you loose
I guess I am also really into The Roches because it feels like a link between the music I used to make with my former band and the music I make now. I was in a band with two other women and the three of us were singing in harmonies a lot. It has such a special effect on me still and I get very nostalgic listening to it.
Today I always find myself trying to get away from harmonies as far as possible somehow, as a counter-reaction. But then lyrically I see a connection to my more recent songs because of the humor and lightness in their songs.
Anna Erhard – Botanical Garden is out now
The Predatory Wasp 