© Bella Villa
Forest is a Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter blending alternative rock, shoegaze and electronic textures into music that balances atmospheric production with intimate songwriting. Her debut album Swan Dive, out September 25 via AWAL, explores a search for self through loneliness, desire, memory, and introspection. Following the release, Forest will bring Swan Dive to stages across North America this fall. We spoke with Forest about the inspiration behind Swan Dive, the role of nostalgia and memory in her songwriting, navigating life in Los Angeles, and the creative process behind the album.
The B-Side Hour: Your debut album is called Swan Dive, a title that came from a photograph you saw in a hotel bathroom and gradually took on a much bigger meaning. What made that image resonate with you so strongly, and what made the idea of a swan dive feel like the right metaphor for the album as a whole?
Forest: I'm the type of person who gets super enthralled with images. There was a part of the hotel story that I had totally forgotten until recently, but I remember seeing the swan in the bathroom and being completely enthralled by it. We were in Boston at the time, and I had just stumbled in after a really fun night with some friends. When I got to the bathroom, the swan caught my attention. I took a picture of it because I thought it was so beautiful. I thought about the title when the album was still half-baked and not fully written. Then I heard this internet lore about the swan dive: that if a swan's partner dies, they fall to their death. It felt so Romeo and Juliet, and even if it's not real, I choose to believe it. There's so much beautiful swan imagery to pull from, both visually and thematically. I did ballet for a long time, so there was also the idea of Swan Lake. It was an easy image for me to build on. Swans are very beautiful, but can also be very somber animals, and I really liked that.
The B-Side Hour: Throughout the album, the past seems to remain intertwined with the present: "Anchor" is about feeling tied to the past, "Juliet" looks back on someone differently after leaving, "Divine Machine" explores a connection that remains even when the person is gone. What made you want to explore that feeling of being emotionally tied to something that belongs to the past?
Forest: I've always been a very nostalgic person. I'm an only child, so I've always had a lot of thinking time. Even now, as an adult living alone, I have a lot of thinking time. Romanticizing the past is something I tend to do unconsciously. I wrote "Anchor" in my childhood bedroom. I'm originally from Chicago, and being there felt so different from being in LA or Boston, where I've lived. While writing it, I was thinking about being tied to that place and to the people there, and what an interesting thought it is to feel spiritually bonded to things. That sense of nostalgia is very prevalent in my life. It's a really moving feeling for me, and probably for a lot of people. When you look back, you realize things you noticed or didn't notice at the time. And as you get older, your perception of those memories changes. I've written a lot of songs about, say, the same person over time. I can think back to something and, even if it doesn't necessarily affect me anymore, I can still pull from it. Thinking about a situation from when I was 15 now that I'm 23 is very different, and it gives new insight.
"I was thinking about being tied to that place and to the people there, and what an interesting thought it is to feel spiritually bonded to things"
The B-Side Hour: You wrote "Vulture" as a second part to "BODIES," with both songs exploring dissociation, not feeling in control of your body, and being perceived, especially by men. What did returning to those themes allow you to explore differently this time, and how did your perspective evolve between the two songs?
Forest: I started writing "Vulture" with the first line. I was thinking back to when I was younger and dealing with body image issues—obviously everyone's dealt with that in some way. Not in a "woe is me" kind of way, but more in the sense that sometimes it's just really annoying to feel like you're expected to be this pin-up girl for dudes all the time, when you don't want to be. That was kind of the feeling behind it. The first line, "Believing I'm not in this carcass," really captured that thought for me. Sometimes your mind and body feel like two different things, especially when you're dissociating. It's a crazy feeling to suddenly think, "Wow, I'm stuck in this body." But I've accepted that, and I'm really okay with it. It was a second part to "BODIES," where I was exploring my relationship to how I look and how I feel in relation to men, while also dealing with those feelings around my body. It's probably my favorite song on the album. The whole chorus is "this body isn't mine," and weirdly, to me, it's more of an accepting song.
The B-Side Hour: "Whore & Savior" grew out of the phrase "lord and savior" you misheard on tour and became a reflection on first love, adolescence and the conflicting expectations placed on women. What made that particular phrase open up so much for you creatively?
Forest: It felt like such a visceral way to capture the whole Madonna-whore complex, especially because it rhymes so closely with "lord and savior" and people immediately get it. I went to Catholic school for a long time—I'm not Catholic, but I was there for forever—and I love religious imagery. If a man in a white van rolled up to my house with Catholic Virgin Mary imagery in his van, I would get in really easily haha. I just thought it was a fun phrase for the Madonna-whore complex that I hadn't heard before, and it was something I hadn't explored in my songwriting. Writing about womanhood is something I'm exploring more because it feels more vulnerable than writing solely about relationships. It was my first attempt at writing a song that felt like a womanhood song to me. It's one of my favorites on the album. Sometimes you're placebo-effected into thinking a song is your favorite because it does well, and you're like, "Yeah, that's the best one," but I genuinely love that song.
The B-Side Hour: "Prosthetic Stars" and "Breathe Out" both draw from your early experiences in Los Angeles, and capture the complexity of loving the city while struggling to feel at home there. How did you approach those conflicting feelings in the songs, and has that tension changed now that you've had more time to find your place in LA?
Forest: Writing "Prosthetic Stars" was kind of a battle in my mind. I was really sad that I had moved to LA during those first six months. It's difficult to make friends when you don't have college or anything like that, and making friends as an adult is hard in general. Moving somewhere where you only know one person is even harder. It took me almost a year to figure it out. At first, I didn't really know what to do with myself, so I was going to parties. "Prosthetic Stars" was a lot of me just word-vomiting what I was feeling and my thoughts about moving to LA, fresh off that feeling of "I need to stop partying because it's not good for me."
"Breathe Out" was more about realizing that I liked being in LA for the opportunities, but I hadn't established any roots yet. I love it here, I love the weather, I love the city, but it was difficult because I didn't have any friends and hadn't found my bearings yet. I'm such a social person, so I need to meet people. Eventually that did happen, but I still have that feeling of "Hollywood's so great, but it doesn't feel like my home yet." That being said, I do love it. I'm not one of those people who are sick of living in LA. My friends are amazing and my partner is amazing. It's just difficult because I'm from Chicago, from the Midwest, so it's very different. It's kind of a purgatory feeling.
"I recently realized that if I get too caught up in another artist and how they sound, or in wanting to sound like them, I can't write"
The B-Side Hour: "Juliet" and "Lay With Me" feel almost like one continuous song, with the ending of "Juliet" flowing directly into the opening of "Lay With Me." They also mirror each other in their endings, and both songs came from a very direct, confessional approach to writing. What made you want these two songs to speak to each other so closely?
Forest: I brought in "Juliet," and then "Lay With Me" the following week. My producer Aaron noticed they were in the same key and suggested we could do something with that. I didn't have an ending for "Juliet" yet so we ended up blending the two together. Sometimes you make these decisions on the fly, and they create their own meaning from what was initially just a technical choice.
I wrote "Juliet" pretty much in one go. I don't write many songs where I admit to being the asshole. I was leaving Boston and seeing someone, and I was really shitty to them. Because I was moving across the country, I kept telling myself I couldn't get attached to them. By the time I started writing about it, I realized how mean I'd been to this person, who was very sweet and nice. So the idea was basically "Sorry for being a dick to you, I'm really not like that."
"Lay With Me" is kind of a love song, kind of not. The first part is very enthralling, like "I really want you." Then I was going through a breakup when I had to write the second verse, so I realized it wasn't going to be a love song anymore because I couldn't write that. So it became more about piecing things together. Both songs ended up blending really well together. I've been playing the CD in my car and thinking, yeah, the transition really did what it needed to do. They're both really about my relationship to another person.
The B-Side Hour: You recorded most of the album in Aaron Liebman's backyard garage studio and took a more experimental approach than on your previous recordings. What did that environment and that change in your creative process allow you to do differently?
Forest: Technically, it was really easy because scheduling a full band in a studio is really difficult when everyone has their own lives. So I wanted to work in building blocks. Aaron and I recorded in his garage. He lives a 15-minute walk from me, so it's super convenient. I really enjoyed that process because recording music isn't my favorite part. I love writing and I love performing—those are my number ones.
So usually, I'll bring in a song that's either half-baked or fully done, with maybe some reference tracks for how I want it to sound. Then my drummer, bassist and guitarist will come in to record their parts and decide what they want to change or add. And sometimes, if I'm really amped about a song, I'll bring it into rehearsal with the band and get a video of us playing it so I have that as a reference. I find that's the easiest way to work. We make the songs on paper, do the full-band thing, and then add the beeps and boops and all the experimental stuff. That's the most fun part, Aaron will put something on the song and we discuss it. I think Aaron and I have gotten to a point where, after working together for over a year, he knows what I like which is really fun. And it's the same thing with my band. When they want to try something, I'll always tell them to try it because we never know what it might do. But if it's not working for me, everyone's really cool about it.
The B-Side Hour: Swan Dive brings together alt-rock, shoegaze and electronic textures, while you've cited influences ranging from The Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones to Elliott Smith. How did you approach bringing those different influences into the album while developing a sound that feels distinctly your own?
Forest: That's a great question because I recently realized that if I get too caught up in another artist and how they sound, or in wanting to sound like them, I can't write. It really blocks me from being able to make something. I find it's easiest for me to just write what I write, bring it to the studio and then use reference tracks for post-production. I'm always writing with just a guitar and singing, so it can really be shaped any way we want it to. I've found that I can write when I take that pressure off myself of wanting to sound a certain way. I just wanted to write songs that I enjoyed and really figure out what I enjoy doing and what direction I want to go in.
"Writing about womanhood is something I'm exploring more because it feels more vulnerable than writing solely about relationships"
The B-Side Hour: "Hot One" is a cover of one of your favorite bands, Shudder to Think. Your version builds tension, especially through the sustained synth and electric guitar lines in the chorus. How did you approach reimagining the song's atmosphere while keeping what made the original meaningful to you?
Forest: It's from one of my favorite movies, Velvet Goldmine. The songs Shudder to Think made for that movie are amazing. I knew I wanted to put a cover on the album, and I loved this song, but I could only listen to it on YouTube, so part of it was selfish because I wanted to be able to listen to it on a streaming platform. I'm also really into this band called Snake River Conspiracy, they're an amazing industrial rock band. So we took some of that industrial feeling into the song and we slowed it down. It was really just fun going for that sound and seeing how it went. It was one of those things where, through trial and error, we ended up thinking, "Wow, this sounds really cool."
The B-Side Hour: You've said that you wanted a harder sound on this album because that's the kind of music you enjoy performing live. Swan Dive carries that energy through its heavy drums and guitars. How much did your vision for the songs as a live experience shape the creative process from the beginning?
Forest: I think it's become more of a subconscious thing now. But it really informed the earlier days because I remember doing really slow songs and thinking, "Okay this is a bummer." I don't think it's an active process anymore because I'm at a point now where I understand what things are going to be like live. With any song, there's still a bit of changing it live. For example, we play "Whore & Savior" a little faster so people can move around, because at the original tempo, it's a little too slow to get a good jump. There needs to be ups and downs, and I think we have a good feeling for that now.
Buy tickets to Forest's fall 2026 tour