It’s more difficult than ever to ignore trends in the digital nature of the music landscape, but singer, guitarist, and songwriter Veronica Everheart tunes out the commotion for her new self-released EP Lighter in the Morning (1/2). There’s indie rock, folk, and electronic music, but not in a combination that can be pinpointed. 

The image used as the black-and-white cover features Everheart staring off into the distance while a hand rests on her shoulder. It’s subtle, yet equally powerful. “It just speaks to me and my past self a lot, and I think also challenges people potentially because it’s something that isn’t done that intensely nowadays,” the Phoenix-based Everheart says about the use of black and white for the cover photo. 

As much as it explains the artwork, it also correlates to Everheart’s astonishing new EP as a whole. Lighter in the Morning wastes no time showcasing her remarkable ability to combine the rock music she grew up on with indie rock, folk, and hints of modern electronic manipulations. 

Everheart worked with producer Junius Karr at the Brooklyn studio Red Convertible Recording to build upon her vision that often starts with just acoustic guitar and vocals. “He’s become my creative partner at this point. I think he really challenged me musically to kind of throw my perception of my own songs out the window and just do things in a new and unique way,” she explains,  adding that’s now a friend as well. There was plenty of time to experiment, so Everheart could thoroughly think about what the wanted to do the next time she was in the studio. 

The result is an EP beaming with ideas left and right. For the fiery, punk rock attitude of opening track “Microcosm,” Everheart turns an indie rock and drum machine beginning into a flurry of guitar distortion and her frustrated screams of “oh, what have I become” and “what was I worth.” 

“It’s kind of like blending different types of personalities together, which is fun,” Everheart says of the vocal approach on Lighter in the Morning. Depending on the lyrics and the tone of the song, she’ll experiment with different vocal styles until it clicks instead of intentionally setting out to sing in a particular way. “Microcosm” is the most abrasive song on the EP, but there’s still plenty of attitude and different kinds of ferociousness. 

Contemplating her insecurities, heartbreak, womanhood, and feeling less than others, Everheart pours out her emotions in a punchy manner- whether she’s screaming at the top of her lungs in anger or quietly singing along about heartbreak with an acoustic guitar. The bulk of the lyrics were written during her senior year of high school and college- a time when she struggled with having the confidence to transition into being an adult. 

One of the primary themes of Lighter in the Morning is how Everheart is perceived by others. In “Simulacrum,” she laments the ways she depicts herself both physically and characteristically. “The song ‘Simulacrum’ is very much about having body dysmorphia and not knowing how people see you because you can’t see yourself,” she explains. From the beginning, synths briefly infiltrate and leave, adding to the uneasiness and fluctuations of Everheart’s reflections of herself. 

“It did end up having a cohesive theme on the EP,” she remarks, but “it’s normally just whatever I’m thinking at the moment.” Each track’s in-the-moment, peculiar phrasing livens the rhythm of each track and deviates from indie rock’s normal pop-oriented structures. 

An avant-garde artist needs creative surroundings, and New York City and LA aren’t the only environments conducive to left-of-center creators. Everheart grew up in the Phoenix area before attending college in Newark, New Jersey and then returning to Phoenix. “I’m around the scene all of the time, so I’m definitely able to connect with more people since I’ve been back,” she says, explaining that Phoenix’s smaller music scene allows her to draw in more people. “It just seems more real here and more passionate because there isn’t this level of pretentiousness that exists within LA or New York, which I find hilarious.”

Since working at a club venue in Phoenix, there’s always exposure to new music, despite the discovery of bands through the live setting not being as popular as it once was before the world of streaming. “I think there’s something about being in a room with people that are all connecting with the music and you’re locked in basically.”

Everheart does want to move to New York in the future, but for now, Phoenix is home. She’s currently working on her next EP that will thematically be different but still connect to the vibe of Lighter in the Morning. “I think about music 24/7,” she says after listing that her hobbies are reading, taking photos, and playing video games. No matter where she ends up, it all comes back to music.