Scott Yoder releases “Portrait Of Annelise” single

13 Apr 2025

2–3 minutes

featured, glam rock, psych pop, Scott Yoder

A kind of longing sadness reverberates through SCOTT YODER’s new single “Portrait of Anneliese”, which he wrote after watching a documentary about the fall of the Soviet Union.

Baroque and Belle and Sebastian-esque, Yoder says the song is about a fictional soul yearning for connection in a forgotten countryside, “abandoned and left behind.”

“It’s about feeling like there’s a barrier between you and someone you care about, and, no matter what you do, no matter how many different ways you try to look at it, no matter either of your good intentions, you just can’t break down that barrier,” he says.

Despite his somewhat flamboyant image — dandyish and otherworldly in equal measure — SCOTT YODER can be a rather distant person. Self-contained. Introspective. Cerebral. So it’s only fitting that he wrote his first solo album, Lover, Let Me In (out September 5th, 2025), well, solo — tucked away in his tiny house in Seattle with only a pack of feral cats for company.

A native of Vashon Island, Washington, Yoder started making music after his dad bought him a garage sale guitar on his 14th birthday — raised on a steady diet of Marilyn Manson, NIN, and of course, Nirvana. From that moment on, bands became his life, starting with the psych-rock outfit the Pharmacy, which saw Yoder and his friends touring with the Moldy Peaches, traversing Europe, and playing fests like SXSW over the course of their 10-year run.

Those guys were like brothers to me,” Yoder says. After the group disbanded — they’d simply run their course — Yoder became a folky balladeer, traveling the country with a harmonica and 12-string on buses and trains, before trading traditional Seattle denim and plaid for a painted face and frills. The campy new look was a nod to the films of Ken Russell, as well as a turn toward a more theatrical sound — more T-Rex than troubadour.

Yoder started writing Lover, Let Me In in 2021 with an unplugged electric guitar and yellow legal pad, recording on his laptop in his tiny loft bedroom. “It’s about feeling like there’s a barrier between you and someone you care about, and, no matter what you do, no matter how many different ways you try to look at it, no matter either of your good intentions, you just can’t break down that barrier,” he says.

Music that, while created solo, is sure to reverberate through anyone who has felt alone — yearning to be let in.

rums – Scott Yoder

Percussion – Scott Yoder

Bass – Scott Yoder

Guitar – Scott Yoder

Keyboards – Scott Yoder

Programming – Scott Yoder

Synth – Scott Yoder

Vocals – Scott Yoder

Produced by Scott Yoder

Vocals recorded by Nicholas Wilbur at Anacortes Unknown

Mixed and Mastered by Mell Dettmer