JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD: When I was recording what would become “Miss Obliteration” with Day Wave I started to get the eerie sense that I was writing more than lyrics, but predictive themes. I was married to my second husband but could see the writing on the wall, a metaphorical tornado was about to tear through my life I denied it. The record kept getting pushed back for various reasons, and I kept thinking it was getting pushed back by a greater force, now 3 years later my life is entirely different and I am radically changed as a person. From my spiritual beliefs, to my person goals and dreams and just in general, nearly everything. I had a feeling this album wouldn’t see light until that chapter of my life complete.

HORSEPOWER: “I’m never not earnest.” Charlotte Weinman is a lot of things — a playwright, a sister, a self-proclaimed former horse girl. She’s also the artist behind Horsepower, a New York-based project that combines the fervent energy of indie rock with the thespian flair of a born performer. As evinced by Horsepower’s eponymous debut EP, the project is a study in earnestness through and through. Musically, it feels like a sonic coalescence of Weinman’s most formative experiences. Her powerful vocals bespeak her background in performance, oscillating between girlish charm and nearly operatic intensity. On the production side, the EP owes much of its lush, crisp sound to the deft work of Charlotte’s brother Noah Weinman (Gigi Perez, Skullcrusher, Odie Leigh), and many production details and lead guitar lines came from her other brother Ben. The collaborative genesis of the EP is a testament to the siblings’ California upbringing in a house full of artists — both of her brothers are working musicians, and Charlotte’s older sister Emma painted the EP’s cover artwork. “We were put in soccer and a music class as kids, and none of us are athletic,” Charlotte laughs. “So one thing had to stick.”