Meels Spoke to Us About Across the Raccoon Strait, Her New EP

The self-described “critter country” music of Amelia Einhorn, better known as Meels, is a product of a youth spent playing in creeks hidden amongst the redwood trees of California. In her newest set of songs, Across the Raccoon Strait, she settles into a sound that honors these roots. Meels joined us from her hometown in Northern California to discuss how location impacts her creative process, the catharsis of songwriting, and her debut EP with Lost Highway Records. 

Meels shot by Jim Hughes

Meels may have grown up in California, but New York has had just as big a hand in her musical wanderings. She attended college at NYU (where a branding class directed her toward her unique genre label) and learned about the nitty-gritty of being a musician while absorbing the myriad sounds around her. She says this is how her first record, Tales from a Bird’s Bedroom, came to fruition. The songs were picked from a crop of her best work made while in school, though she now feels distanced from its more contemporary stylings. “The new record is very tonally different from Tales from a Bird’s Bedroom. The new one falls more into classic folk Americana realm. That’s more the direction I see my music continue to go and grow,” she explains.

The lean into more classic influences hearkens back to Meels’ upbringing spent listening to artists like John Denver, John Prine, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and Dolly Parton. She says that she finds herself in a more confident space on this EP than on her last record because of the choice to lean into these influences. Music is a bit of a family affair, too; “Marsha June” is written about Meels’ grandmother, who worked as a concert pianist. It was her grandmother’s willingness to lend Meels a rent-free home in LA for a year that allowed her to jump head-first into her own career as a musician. 

The songs on the EP, though influenced by her life in California, were all written from Meels’ apartment in New York City. She explains that, while the city pushed her to grow, it didn’t necessarily inspire her creativity. After school, she decided to move back to California, and the anticipation alone was enough to open her creative floodgates. She was directly inspired by this decision to write “Out West,” which was the pitch track for the EP and what Meels says would be the title track if there were one. When asked what version of herself tugs at her most when she’s writing songs, she explains that New York City and LA have their place in her story, but as for her roots in Northern California, “That’s the one version of myself that I’ll always return to.” 

Meels also explains that her work derives from a certain desire to carry on the legacy of her Lost Highway predecessors, which include the likes of Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson. “I’m beyond honored to be in the same sentence as some of those artists…I hope that I can continue the tradition of candid and honest folk music,” she says. Though following in their footsteps, her songs aren’t aiming to be some kitschy photocopy of the greats, but rather a natural progression that carries the genre into the modern conversation. “Folk music is constantly evolving, and I’m happy to be a part of that evolution,” she says.

Beyond the vintage sound of her music, the matching visuals are central to the experience of Across the Raccoon Strait. The music videos for “The Wizard,” “Willow Song,” and “Out West” were filmed using real 70s-era broadcast cameras, an idea that came to Meels’ creative director and boyfriend, Henry Pakenham, when he went down a Hee Haw YouTube rabbit hole one night. Joining us briefly, Pakenham explains that for “Willow Song” he looked more toward programs like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show for inspiration, particularly performances by Linda Ronstadt and John Denver on the latter program. The team fully embraced the more limited tools of the era, doing zero video editing in post-production and creating the woodland set by hand. Meels’ dad even did the puppeteering from inside the log she sits on while she serenades the viewer. 

Not only is Across the Raccoon Strait an exploration into a folkier soundscape, but it’s also a tool for Meels to work through the harder parts of life. This is particularly true for “The Wizard,” which she says is the most vulnerable song on the EP. It’s about her lifelong struggles with OCD, though the message may not be obvious at first, hidden beneath a perky melody. But that’s the process for Meels. She explains that the balance between her upbeat sound and more serious topics works to make certain subject matter more digestible. JD Samson (Le Tigre), a mentor of hers during her time at NYU, even told her that her songwriting was “like writing happy about the end of the world, like a fairytale.” Meels goes on to say that she looks at the process of songwriting like therapy in that she finds the meaning in her words upon hearing them dictated back to her. Not only does expelling and processing things through her music allow her to walk lighter through life, but it’s the primary reason she chose to be a songwriter.        

‘Across The Raccoon Strait’ was released Jan. 30, 2026 via Lost Highway Records