Emily Frembgen released her first proper studio album with producer Hugh Pool (Taj Mahal, Debbie Harry, Michael Pitt) at Excello Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 2021. Irreverently titled It’s Me or the Dog, it was received warmly by critics and radio alike, with New York Music Daily naming it “one of the best records of 2021” and Glide Magazine calling it “a strong study in writing both melodies and powerful lyrics.” In many ways, it looked like her career was just beginning, but it took a long time to get to the beginning. Her upcoming release, out early 2024 on Don Giovanni Records, will explore her past and the echoes of alienation that inform her present. This is in no small part due to the fact that these songs were written after the major world shift of 2020. “Fentanyl,” the first single, opens with the line “Two years of doing nothing makes everybody crazy.”