Singer-Songwriter Anna Thompson Rises High with "Centerpiece"

If there is one thing you need to know anything about Anna Thompson, let it be that she is incredibly talented and dedicated to her craft. 

“I would want people to view me as a vocalist first,” Thompson explained, “I want people to know that I genuinely care about being proficient in my instrument first and foremost.”

From Seattle, Washington, Thompson is tackling all of the struggles of attending virtual school at Berklee College of Music while also tackling the release of her debut EP. Centerpiece is a 7-track collection that explores punchy-pop melodies and documents her journey through life. 

The 19-year-old singer-songwriter is starting off with the right foot forward after going viral on TikTok. Although she doesn’t consider herself to have ‘blown up’ yet, it forced her to release the track “Get Me High” way before she had planned. 

“My debut single was not intended to be my debut single, at all. I put it out because of TikTok and that kind of threw a wrench into my other release plans. I was like, ‘I have to put this out now, which means I have to follow up with this other song way sooner than I expected’,” Thompson explained. 

This TikTok currently has over 600,000 views and kicked off the beginning of her career. 

“It was really quick, I hadn’t posted on TikTok in a long time and then I posted one video of me singing an original song, “Get Me High” then within 10 minutes I had 5,000 views and I thought, ‘wow that’s a lot.’”

However, TikTok is not completely controlling her career. She is focused on making the best music she can, but she has been ready for this for years. Since she was 5 years-old, she has been singing and performing for others. Her first performance was a small theater production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Ironically, the then 5 year-old was cast in the role as the giant. After that performance it has only been a learning experience, especially on becoming comfortable in her own skin. 

Now, Anna Thompson is thriving as an independent artist. The various responsibilities have made her learn a whole new set of skills. 

“I enjoy being an independent artist because I get to make whatever I want and I can put it out whenever I want. You get to keep a larger percentage of money you make. However I don’t like all the extra work because now I can only devote about 25% of my time to music.”

Before this, she was signed to a record label for about a year and a half, but none of her music was ever released under the label. Although it is hard to transition from having a huge team behind you to nothing, Thompson is grateful for all she learned with them as she marches forward. 

On April 23rd, Thompson dropped Centerpiece, a personal project as she writes all of her songs. The first song she wrote off the EP came to her in May and everything wrote itself in the next two months. In total, it took eight to nine months total for everything to come together and complete her vision. 

Two highlights off of the EP are the music videos for “Telepathically” and “Dreams About Him”. Both videos directed by Justin Frick carry Thompson’s lyrics and colorful melodies beyond the track. Although she has never been on camera like that before, she is grateful to the years of practice with singing in the car and in the mirror. 

After the EP was recorded, she had no time to focus on her music anymore and had to transition straight into the school mindset. When things started to calm down, Thompson had more time to focus on writing and thinking about future steps.

“I was in a completely different space where I was incredibly stressed out and [at] the place where I was when I wrote Centerpiece, I was in the cusp of falling in love. You can’t be in that space for too long so you move on.”

Now looking ahead, Thompson is releasing a new single “Godzilla” on May 21. She teased the track on her social media accounts, immediately getting thousands of views and likes on TikTok. 

With a sound, fully trained by herself and inspired by the vocal runs of Ariana Grande, that is pleasant on the ears - she is ready to reach different people with her music and make more of it soon. Thompson is crafting her ideal sound and continues to grow with each and every song she puts out. This rising artist has a bright future ahead of her. 

Check out Centerpiece, available to stream or download now and keep an eye out for Thompson’s new releases on her Instagram, Twitter or TikTok.