Anna Volpe has been called Annie for years. It started with her friend group in high school, and when one of them found out Volpe means fox in Italian, they told her it would be a perfect stage name.

She stumbled across the name again almost two years ago, in the middle of experimenting with a new sound. With “a little more alternative, a little more swagger” in her songs, she knew that this was the perfect time to create Annie Foxx.

“I’m really excited about being able to explore different genres and work with different people to show a side that I wouldn't necessarily show in my music under my real name,” she said. “I'm just having fun with it and seeing where it takes me.”

Although many of her collaborators reside in different states, her pre-pandemic way of collaborating digitally has altered slightly. Motivation comes and goes, as it has for many in the last year and a half, but this time spent at home has given her the chance to really focus on what she wants Annie Foxx to be.

Her inspiration comes from several songwriters whose careers she follows online and has seen release music under a variety of side projects. She plans to continue to release music as Anna Volpe, but wanted this new sound to be a project of its own.

She has also found inspiration from artists such as Bishop Briggs and Billie Eilish. Each have their own vocal and lyrical styles, but they both share a confidence that Volpe wanted to replicate in her own music.

“I always love to hear music to hype you up, so [Bishop Briggs] was a big inspiration,” she said. “I think what I'm really attracted to with Billie Eilish is the darkness in the lyrics. It's just fun to experiment and explore and not have a lot of pressure, and that’s what they represent to me.”

Her first single, “Blood Runs Cold”, was actually inspired by the show Peaky Blinders. Its main character, Thomas Shelby, has a similar kind of confidence that Volpe sees in Bishop Briggs and Billie Eilish, and in just a few hours the song was fully written.

The project of Annie Foxx was already in motion by the time “Blood Runs Cold” was written, but she immediately recognized that it was the perfect song to introduce her new sound.

“I really like the punchy aspect, percussion wise and production wise, and I really loved the vibe of it,” she said. “I feel like it's a good song to hype someone up if they're feeling unmotivated. I hope it gives a little more push of confidence.”