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Picture by Austen Juul-Hansen

Susannah Joffe’s latest single, “Shit out of Luck,” is a dusty dreamscape blending her signature heavenly sonic atmosphere with a twangy, resolute country grit. Effortless and airy layered vocals take flight amidst the single’s smoky, Western-tinged instrumentation, telling the story of what a country girl does when let down by someone who once promised forever. We had the opportunity to chat with Joffe about “Shit out of Luck,” as well as her last dreamy lover-girl single, “Sofia Coppola,” and her future projects.

Ones To Watch: Just give us a rundown—what is “Shit out of Luck?” 

Susannah Joffe: I wanted to make a cinematic song and I was really inspired by the old western aesthetic. I feel like there aren't a ton of country ballads or outlaw songs being made anymore, and I wanted to make one that allowed me to become a character—in “Shit out of Luck,” that’s this woman who just killed her man. A huge part of it was having fun with the production and experimenting with new styles—I really get in touch with this curious and playful side of myself when it comes to making music. Honestly, this song and this whole project is just me making stuff that I have fun making. It was so fun to try a persona on and make “Shit out of Luck,” a camp, outlaw ballad of a southern girl.

So what inspired you to write “Shit out of Luck?” Was it just a desire to see something of its kind in the world, or did you see something that sparked the idea?

I honestly don't know. I was sitting in my roommate's room for a change of scenery, and I just wrote the first verse as a breakup song, just dramatized to the 10th degree. But once we added production, a kind of country backbeat, it just happened. It was one of those songs I wrote in an hour, which in my experience, are usually the best. I wanted to talk about, like, loss and heartbreak in a new way that isn't as literal, and then this murder story emerged—“Shit out of Luck” kind of pokes fun at itself.

Considering your thoughts on production being really essential to the cinematic feeling of your songs, how did you land on country? Was that an instinct after writing the song, or was that you in the studio trying different things and seeing what worked?

I knew how I wanted the intro to the song, which is this very slow country ballad. I honestly thought the whole song would be that, a classic old-timey, yearning country song. But during production, after we recorded that first intro, I started adding more, like a double-time country backbeat. The second that was added, the rest of the rest of production needed to be revealed to us. The drums were definitely essential, and once the drums were there, we had to add fiddle. Then there’s all of these corny, very kitschy sound effects, like horses neighing and whips cracking, whistles and guns firing. I didn't initially foresee any of that. I knew I wanted it to be a little bit camp and tongue in cheek, but I didn’t think it was going to go all the way.  

How do you think, beyond genre, this production differs from your last single, “Sofia Coppola?” 

I think one thing for me is that I really wanted to make a project that felt consistent. I want every song I'm working on right now to kind of go in partnership with one another and take you through this cinematic universe of Susannah Joffe. I knew I wanted to maintain this dreamy feel throughout all the songs, which is partly because the songs are a lot more camp and dramatized. The dreamy quality just reinforces the idea that this is a world and isn't necessarily something that should be taken literally. It’s very unlike my past music, where the vocals and instruments are very dry. This is a complete swing in the opposite direction, and the dreaminess just makes it even more emotional and even more like a story. I made “Shit out of Luck” pretty soon after “Sofia Coppola,” it was definitely still in my mind and body, and so it was just one of those things I just felt obvious. They both needed to have all these elements connecting them, even though they're literally opposite in subject matter.

How do you feel about the reactions from fans so far? I feel like “Sofia Coppola” has gotten so much hype. I've seen fan-edits on TikTok and everything, how do you feel about that? Do you anticipate, like, the reaction being really similar to this single?

With “Sofia Coppola,” I was very pleasantly surprised. I was really nervous putting that song out because it is so different from my other stuff, and it's kind of marking the start of a new sonic journey for me. When people were like going ham for it, it was just a really nice feeling. Obviously, you’re making art for yourself, but I also want the community and the fans that listen to my music to enjoy it. Seeing everybody get so into that song was huge. I’m definitely scared to put out “Shit out of Luck,” because I've never promoted a song less. I'm really used to the three months of self-promotion, so I really hope people like it. I think half of what people like about “Sofia Coppola” is the unseriousness of it, and I think “Shit out of Luck” takes that to an even more extreme length. I even have some fun stuff that I'm working on, like a custom magic eight-ball site where you can ask different questions, and the responses are all negative lyrics from the song. So I’m working on things to kind of integrate fans into the song more, which I'm excited about.

Speaking of, what’s your favorite “Shit out of Luck” lyric?

There's this one verse that I wrote while in the studio. We had laid down the pre-chorus, but I hadn’t written half the song. I was having so much fun making it that I wanted to crank it out, so I wrote this verse in probably five minutes, and it ended up being my favorite lyrics of the whole song. It's, “So roll your bills and do your lines / You're getting high on borrowed time.” I just loved that because I feel like it sets such a scene of who this male character is. I'm not, like, in the “drugs are cool” crowd. I've always been like, “I don't fuck with that shit.” So to me, this guy's kind of a bum, like, a grown man doing coke. But it's also, I'm coming for you bitch, you're over here getting high and I'm literally hunting your ass. So yeah, it’s just really cheeky and fun, and it just came to me so easily. A runner-up is probably “He'll put you out like a cigarette and I'll touch myself to your last breath.”

We haven’t talked much about the queerness of your music and art, how does “shit out of luck” fall into that world? 

Right. I think another reason why I am sort of nervous about the reaction to this song, is because “Shit out of Luck” is talking about a man and a woman. That being said, it still feels so inherently queer because it's from such, like, a character perspective. Again, I think Thelma and Louise was a movie that was really influential to me growing up. You can sort of see that movie in the song, and you know, sure the movie is about one of them shooting and killing a man, but that is such, like a queer-coded film. I'm excited about that, and intrigued to see how people respond. Even if a song isn't literally talking about a queer relationship, the queerness is baked into it for me, always.

I think that definitely applies to your visuals too and the entire aesthetic you’ve built around your recent releases.

Literally, I get my wigs made by a drag queen in Lubbock, Texas, and I love them. She's making me a new wig that I'm really, really excited about—it’s very 80s, country Dolly Parton. 

Soon you're going on tour with Alix Page, which is so exciting. What are you looking forward to on tour? And is there something specific about “Shit out of Luck” that you're excited about performing? 

I performed “Shit out of Luck” for the first time at a show I did in Austin before it was even finished. I grew up listening to country and The Chicks, and if you go on YouTube, the first video of me singing ever is me singing “Wide Open Spaces” in a pink plaid dress with braids and boots at my talent show. This song feels very natural for me to sing, and when I was performing it, it just felt so good in my body and good in my voice, because it felt like I was just singing the way I was supposed to sing. I’ve tried to kind of adjust my voice in the past to have more of, like an indie rock quality to it, but literally, since I was a kid, people have always told me I have a voice for country music. I used to lean away from that, now it feels really freeing to be like, “Yup, like I'm going to yodel and do all that shit and have fun with it.” So I'm really excited to be on the Alix Page tour and maybe even do a kind of stripped-back version of it for some of the shows, you know, and have my country queen riff-off with myself on stage. 

That was another one of my questions. Considering your background of growing up in Texas, does turning to country music feel more or less comfortable for you? 

I’m loving it. A lot of the songs I'm working on right now are all really country-influenced. They all have a blend of slide guitar, violin, tambourine, and shaker. I literally grew up listening to bluegrass and country. I grew up watching my dad do open mics at venues in Austin, half of which don't even exist anymore, but I think I pulled away from that for so long. I thought, damn, everyone hates country music, the public thinks it's loser shit, but I grew up on that. It feels really exciting and fun because it's so new to me in terms of actually making that kind of music. It’s special when you've been doing some kind of art form for so long to find something that is new and challenges you in a new way. So it felt simultaneously natural and really refreshing.

Listen to “Shit out of Luck” below: