renforshort

Article by Brittany Ormiston

Hosted by: 1824 - UMG’s creative solutions team

Photo by Nathalie Benshmuel

Lauren Isenberg, professionally known as renforshort, is an alt-pop artist and songwriter who is breaking down traditional barriers for young artists and women in the industry. Her ambition, honesty, and love for music are changing the viewpoints of other professionals in the industry, and listeners across the globe day-by-day. She is not afraid to speak her mind, and convey how she wants to bring her visions to life. “You will always have to be a little bit louder,” shares renforshort. This mindset shines through her songwriting, and in turn empowers and inspires listeners to do the same. renforshort released her debut album dear amelia at the beginning of July that dives deep into her mental health, and presents the most vulnerable, emotional body of work to date.  

After writing every day for eight months, renforshort selected tracks that “worked for the project [dear amelia] and fit the narrative, and went from there.” The album opens with ‘i miss myself,’  and describes the feeling of longing for the person you used to be. renforshort wrote the song for the sole purpose of being an opener, and to tie together the rest of the story. The closing track ‘amelia’ leaves the listener asking, “Who is Amelia? Why is the entire album dedicated to her?” renforshort addressed every single song as a letter to Amelia: a personification of her own brain that she places endless amounts of stress on. In the end, this stress, negativity, and pain causes her to lose a part of herself. She is essentially turning inwards to speak to herself about the emotions she experiences, and the mental health struggles she endures regularly. Even though the project describes renforshort’s journey, the songwriting is incredibly transparent and ambiguous to allow for listeners to personalize it to their own lives. 

renforshort has provided listeners with the opportunity to write about their personal experiences through the Letters to Amelia campaign. After downloading the template from renforshort.com, you can use it as a diary entry to “get things off your chest that no one will see or read.” Writing out your thoughts can be one step closer to talking about your feelings to someone you trust. It can be extremely cathartic, and considered a practice run if you will. Sealing the envelope and “sending” the letter to Amelia may help with processing feelings, evoking mindfulness, and gaining perspective while staying present. The Letters to Amelia campaign is set up as an outlet for listeners to utilize just as renforshort uses her songwriting as a release. Mental health has always been at the forefront of renforshort’s career, and top of her priority list.

As someone who navigates depression and anxiety on a regular basis, renforshort’s main goal is to help as many people as she can through music while in turn helping herself. Aside from songwriting, she finds comfort in going back to core experiences and routines from when she was younger. “Nostalgia helps me. What music was I listening to when I was 15?...What food was I fixated on? Those things bring me back to that time, and make me feel like I am connected to my body again,” mentions renforshort. This is exceptional advice that many can implement into routines to keep their mental health in check. Everyone is going through something, and it is extremely important to be kind and respectful. Bringing positivity into the world by complimenting a stranger, and expressing gratitude to others can truly move mountains. 

This rush of positivity is exactly what renforshort hopes her upcoming headlining tour will provide to those who attend. At each tour stop, she wants everyone to “feel united and like a family.” She is looking forward to everyone coming together, and connecting over the same values in a safe space. renforshort has been itching to headline a tour, and to plan out the show from the lighting to spending more time interacting with the audience. “On a headline, you as an artist can be more you if that makes sense. 100% you, and have the stage design be you, and the lighting be you. Everything is you. And that is really awesome to have another outlet to express yourself and your artistry. It’s really cool, and I am very excited about it,” shares renforshort. After having mostly women on her team while touring with The Band Camino, she will surround herself with women to make the headlining tour experience more comfortable. The sisterhood and female representation is incredibly empowering, and has positively impacted her life on tour as a whole. 

renforshort’s artistry is both refreshing and “tastefully weird” as she would say. She reflects internally, and creates art that is relatable, raw, and without a drop of sugar-coating. She is paving the way for young, female artists, and making much-needed changes in the music industry. If you ever need renforshort, she is most likely getting her daily dose of crossword puzzles and “chasing the feeling of being in Toronto.” As you can tell, renforshort is someone you would be lucky to know, and she certainly would never let you down.