I love a good press conference. They’re a coming together of the community, like a wedding or the Gathering of the Juggalos. I rocked up to the function in a cloud of skunky smoke and quickly found my place in the back among the other delinquent journalists. We waited patiently, trading cigarettes, candy, and war stories, for the woman of the hour to come out. Em Beihold would be around any minute to delight us with the freshest details of her newest album, “Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter.” Needless to say, the wait was well worth it.
You, of course, already know Beihold from her previous work. “Eggs in the Backseat,” “Numb Little Bug,” “Infrared,” and a stunning version of “Until I Found You.” Beihold has been around the block and back, making an everlasting mark upon the music industry. That being said, it has been almost four years since we’ve gotten a new album, which has left fans wondering, when are we going to get more, more, more? Well, the singles started to flow consistently in 2025, “Brutus,” “Hot Goblin," and then “Scared of the Dark,” signifying that something was on the way. Finally, word came through: “Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter” would come our way in early 2026. Four years is a long time in the music industry. It’s a lot of time for an artist to grow and change, so you wouldn’t be a fool for wondering what to expect from the new LP. Luckily, we got the chance to get an update straight from the musician herself.
The thing Beihold emphasized most about the new record was that it would be brutally Em. If there is one concrete truth about the music industry, it is that it chews creative souls up and spits them back out as cookie-cutter knock-offs of themselves that will be easier to sell. Executives hate to see a person like Beihold, an artist. Once you go pro, the great beast begins to circle, concerned only with sinking in its many fangs to drain you of every dollar it can. Beihold strikes me as the kind of musician who wouldn’t put up with that shit. In a market overcrowded with mass-produced slop, songs written and rewritten by a team with none but a line or a riff contributed by the actual artist, she has consistently put out music that is, let’s be honest, actually worth listening to. Em has assured us that “Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter” will be an album written to her standards, not those of industry greedheads.
The album will pull back from the pop-heavy stylings of earlier work, being more nuanced; less pop star, more singer-songwriter. Beihold told us that the album is “a conversation with myself, like a journal entry.” The burnout brought on by dueling with the beast has forced her to take a step back and assess her place in the musical canon. In an industry where comparison is as tempting to the artist as stealing just one or two ciggies from an unattended pack is to me, it’s easy to lose yourself in a sea of doubt. Through heavy sparring sessions between her and her piano, Beihold has risen above the litany of voices telling her who she is supposed to be to find who it is that she would like to be.
I’ve already gotten to sample two tracks off the album: “Unicorn” and “Van Gogh.” I’m sure you’ve found yourself extremely jelly, but worry not; you can go hear both of these tracks and more right now. “Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter” is streaming everywhere as of today, so check it out wherever it is that you get your music. You can also catch Beihold on tour in your favorite city beginning this May. Surely once you hear the studio tapes, you will need to hear the songs live. So go give the album a listen, get yourself some tickets, and see what it is that makes a monolith out of a musician.
