© JORDANKELSEYKNIGHT

A trip down a rabbit hole is often a dark and confusing descent into madness. Going down one means leaning into your own insanity. Getting stuck in one is letting it take over. But for those equipped with the will to pull themselves out, the reward at the end can be profound: a moment of clarity that gives way to personal transformation.

Two years after breaking TikTok with her slinky hit “Late to the party,” rapidly rising alt-pop confessionalist Emei has fallen down her own rabbit hole and undergone a metamorphosis. Following the release of her previous widely embraced projects, End of an Era, and Scatterbrain, a challenging period of writer’s block and creative renewal has brought the Los Angeles-based songwriter to return with her most ambitious, and intimate, offering yet.