Susannah Joffe Stuns On New Single: Happiness Is Just A Myth
- Josh Kitchen
- 30 minutes ago
- 9 min read
“This one really feels like the truest version of me.”
By : Josh Kitchen / June 26, 2026
Susannah Joffe has been building toward this her whole life.
Growing up in Texas, she spent weekends tagging along with her parents to folk and country open mic nights in the Hill Country, soaking up the sounds of singers belting Tammy Wynette and Willie Nelson covers before she was even in the first grade. But when she moved to New York to pursue music, she tried to suppress those Southern vocal traditions, chasing the kind of voice she thought she needed to "make it."
Since releasing her 2020 debut single, "Nobody Wants Me Tonight," Joffe has slowly evolved into the artist who, while she may not have realized it at the time, had always been waiting inside her. By the time 2024's Your Mother's Name arrived, she was embracing towering, classic country "the higher the hair, the closer to heaven" wigs, leaning into the camp, queer-coded pageantry and theatricality (think cult classic Drop Dead Gorgeous) that would become central to her identity.
That vision crystallized further on 2025's Cult Leader, where hook-filled, tongue-in-cheek standouts like "Sofia Coppola" and "Call Me Pretty" bridged the worlds of Lana Del Rey and Chappell Roan. Now, following this year's "Texas Baby" and "You Ruined Paris," Joffe tells me that these new songs finally sound like the artist she was always meant to be.
On her latest single, "Happiness Is Just a Myth," Joffe welcomes listeners into a world that's as theatrical as it is deeply vulnerable, with Brian Wilson like production, the song slowly unfurls into something enormous, mirroring the contradictions at the heart of both her music and herself. "I'm obsessed with making something that feels as authentic as possible, Joffe told me. "This song feels like the perfect externalization of my insides."
Your new single,"Happiness Is Just a Myth" is out today. read you saying that this might be your favorite song you've ever written. Listening to it and reading the lyrics, I certainly get that because it sounds like an invitation . It kind of simmers and builds into something so grand. Can you talk a little bit about this song and what it means to you?
You summed it up pretty well. I definitely think, as a small artist, it is just a constant struggle to be self-assured. You kind of have to force yourself to live in this state of delusion, and it's really hard to constantly maintain that façade. So that's lyrically where this song came from.
I just felt so beaten down by this dream of mine, and also frustrated at myself for not really showing any gratitude for the things I have accomplished. I have OCD, and I really think it's an OCD thing because the way I feel it settle in my mind feels the same in my body as other weird compulsions I've had throughout my life. But I'm obsessed with making something that feels as authentic as possible, as honest as possible—in terms of the production, all the instrumentation, the song structure, the lyrics, the vocal delivery, everything.
This is one of the songs where I'm like, "this scratches that itch - this is me."
It feels like the perfect externalization of my insides. I really wanted to make something that felt unique and constantly reinvented itself as the song went along. It doesn't have a traditional structure, but it still has some pop sensibilities while feeling different. I loved singing it. I loved making it. I'm the kind of person where, the second a song is done, I'm like, "Oh, this shit sucks." But this is one where I was like, "Wait, this one's really good," and I still feel that way, which is radical for me.
This lyric stood out to me: "Guess I believe the fame is gonna save me from bleeding when I scrape my knees from the ordinary." That's some heavy stuff, but it feels so relatable—the idea that the faith you put into something is going to save you, only to realize how it changes you once you're living it. I feel like your fans—and even people who don't know you yet—can hear a lyric like that and think, "She's talking about something really real. I've thought about that before."
It definitely feels really vulnerable to be like, "Yeah, I want to be famous." You know what I mean? It's kind of embarrassing. Obviously, the goal is to be commercially successful, but to say it outright feels embarrassing and, like I said, like a very vulnerable declaration.
It's funny you mentioned those lyrics because that whole second verse—I wrote it six months after I'd written the rest of the song. There was just this empty space in the track, and I was waiting and waiting. I had so many different versions of melodies, structures, and lyrics. Then one day I literally sat down and said, "Okay, I need to finish this fucking song." In about ten minutes, that verse was written, and it immediately became my favorite part of the song. So I'm glad you like it.
It's interesting you bring up that feeling of saying, "I want to be famous." I get why that can feel embarrassing. I think it's kind of bullshit to pretend people don't have those thoughts. They're very real, who hasn't felt that way at some point?
Everyone, a little bit, is like, "Wow, it would be really nice to be known."
I think it really comes down to that human desire to be seen and recognized. When you have a gift like writing songs and singing, I can totally understand wanting to put it out there and have people love it.
Totally. The whole thing is kind of a bunch of contradictions because I know, based on what I've accomplished so far, that I could be winning Grammys and I'd still be like, "Well, this isn't enough." I'd be selling out arenas and then think, "Well, I want to be one of the greats." You know what I mean? It's like asking for an inch and taking a mile—but with myself.
Your singles this year - "Texas Baby," You Ruined Paris," and now "Happiness Is Just a Myth"—are just so big. Visually, too, you present in such a huge way. It's exciting to watch someone with such an exciting and expansive artistic vision.
Thank you, because it's fun for me. I definitely go into the studio thinking, "I want this to be lush. I want this to be huge." But even when I go in thinking, "I want to strip things back," it always ends up being this 500-track project with every instrument I can get my hands on and vocals everywhere. It's so fun. Even though a lot of these songs are pretty serious, there was so much play and experimentation that went into making them. I kind of like that even though it's a heavy song, it doesn't necessarily feel heavy because there are strings and synths and just so much awesome shit.
When I hear these songs, and hear you talking about making them big, it's so Brian Wilson to me. The production is massive.
Pet Sounds was a huge reference for me and for this whole project. You can definitely hear it—maybe a little more clearly on some of the other tracks, like "Madeline." That was definitely a huge inspiration because I wanted to push myself to use instruments that aren't typically found in... whatever this genre is. Pop rock? I don't know. It was so fun. I was like, "Yeah, let's throw some fucking flute and clarinet in there. Let's get some crazy-ass drums on here."
I think people are going to hear these songs and love getting completely lost in them.
That makes me so happy. We put timpani on almost every song. I'd never used it before, but every time we were working on something, I was like, "Timpani on that"
Maybe it comes down to being from Texas—they say everything's bigger in Texas, right? How would you describe the Susannah Joffe we're hearing on these songs and on this upcoming project compared to your earlier work?
I literally wish I could wipe everything I've ever put out and just have this album be my introduction to the world because I feel like it's so much more me. Again, it goes back to authenticity. As corny as it sounds, I think you can tell that I trust myself more with these songs.
Especially on the last project—and even the one before that—I felt really lost. I felt like I was trying to imitate different things I was hearing that I liked. I'd make the songs and think, "I like this, but it doesn't feel like me." It just wasn't right. With these songs, I finally thought, "Okay, wait. I'm going to trust my instincts. I'm going to trust my taste. I'm going to stop looking for external input and inspiration, and I'm going to make something that feels inventive, exciting, and fun for me to make, sing, and write."
I think there are still the bones of my earlier work. The songwriting itself—the lyricism—is still very similar, especially to my Your Mother's Name EP. These songs are still very vulnerable, earnest, and genuine. They're dealing with heavy themes across the board. On some songs I'm talking about losing faith, politics, the world ending, loss in general, loss of agency, loss of relationships, and things like that.
I love that. I went back and listened to your 2020 debut, "Nobody Wants Me Tonight."
Me in a black dress at a bar open mic with a stand-up bass—that's me. Jazz, soul, country—that's what I grew up doing.
It's really amazing to watch your evolution from then to now because, if people have followed you, it's still unmistakably you. But you can tell you've taken all those influences and evolved into what feels like the truest version of Susannah Joffe. It all feels very authentic, just like you've been talking about.
That's exactly how it feels. That's why I love "Happiness Is Just a Myth" so much. This one really feels like the truest version of me. I'm like, "That's me right there in a little four-minute segment." I'm also letting myself sing in a way that's true to the vocal traditions I grew up with—going to bars with my parents when I was six years old to watch folk and country open mic nights in the Hill Country.
When I first moved to New York, I think I really tried to kill that tendency in my voice because I wanted to sound cool or whatever. Now I'm like, "Wait—I love to sing, and this is how I naturally sing." That's what I sound like.
Speaking of how big and lush these songs are, I know you've already been playing them live and were just here in Los Angeles, but you have some huge shows coming up. You have All Things Go, and I imagine you're really excited to put these songs on that kind of stage.
I'm very excited, it'll be my festival debut, which is really exciting. All Things Go has literally been my dream. I can show you my phone background—it's my manifestation board. See? Right there. I have a U.S. tour on here. I have so much stuff on here that's already happened.
I'm just so grateful. I thought about All Things Go all the time last year. I kept saying, "I really just want to fucking play this festival." I didn't think it was going to happen. Then I found out, and there's actually a picture of my managers when they got the call. They're standing up, high-fiving each other. It's really cute. I'm excited to win people over.
I don't think that'll be hard.
I hope not.
What do you think is something about Texas that people often misunderstand, or something you wish more people knew about it?
I always talk about Texas like this: it's kind of like when an older sibling says, "The only person who gets to talk shit about my little brother is me." Everyone's wearing cowboy boots now. Everyone's wearing fringe and turquoise and all this Southwestern inspiration. Those elements—the culture in Texas—is amazing.
It's such a nuanced place because you'll meet the kindest people you've ever met, and then you'll find out they've voted for Trump every single election. It's so complicated. I guess my answer is that Texas is nuanced, and people shouldn't demonize Texans if they don't understand them.
It sounds like Texas is a land of contradictions, but like so many places in this country, there's so much beauty there.
That was something I realized while working on the album bio. All of these songs—in terms of both the lyricism and the production—are about contradiction. The entire album is about contradictions. It's about having these really intense lyrics like "Happiness is just a myth" or "Nothing will ever be enough," paired with shimmering synths and strings. The whole thing is kind of about that because I was surrounded by contradiction my entire life.
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