Title: “pet cemetery”
Artist: Amy Meyer
From: N/A
Release Date: October 19, 2025
Length: 5:18
Format: Digital Download, 7” Single
Recorded: Topanga Room Studios – Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre(s): Adult Contemporary, Alternative
Label: Independent
Written: September 2025
Writer(s): Amy Meyer
Producer(s): Amy Meyer, Sara Brie-Loren
“pet cemetery” is a single by American singer-songwriter Amy Meyer, released independently on October 19, 2025. The track, recorded at Topanga Room Studios in Los Angeles, California was written and produced by Meyer in collaboration with producer Sara Brie-Loren. Blending elements of adult contemporary and alternative music, “pet cemetery” was announced via a post to her official website on October 18, 2025 and will be issued as a free digital download and a limited 7” vinyl single, with a runtime of five minutes and eighteen seconds.
First debuted during a surprise performance at the House of Blues in Las Vegas on October 17, 2025, two days before its official release. Amy Meyer took to the stage at short notice, offering fans of her official mailing list the opportunity to see the performance on a free of charge, first come first served basis. The track was debuted during the encore of the show alongside a couple of other brand new previously unheard tracks, alongside her backing band Sara Brie-Loren, Lydia Santangelo and Charlie Hawks, giving fans an early taste of the emotive and nostalgia tinged track.
Audience footage and clips shared online shortly after the performance generated some early buzz for the track and Amy Meyer’s potential return, with fans taking to social media to show their excitement for the potential return as well as widespread praise for the track, fans praising it’s haunting narrative and autobiographical tone. The Las Vegas debut marked Meyer’s return to the stage for the first time since the conclusion of her 2021 world tour and served as a preview of her future direction.
Lyrically, the song explored themes of grief, memory and adolescent nostalgia, centering on the emotion weight and lasting effects of losing a close friend from your youth. With some fan theory’s already suggesting that it could be a metaphor to Amy’s feelings on the breakup of her hugely successful band ‘Riot! in the Boulevard’ a band that she formed with her high school friends when she was in her teens. Delivered in a confessional tone and featuring vivid imagery, the track uses suburban landmarks and intimate moments with broader reflections on the passage of time, loss and longing. The title is a reference to the Stephen King novel Pet Sematary, referenced within the lyrics, where grief is described as “a memory with the volume turned way up.” And a reference to Stephen King himself within the lyrics.
Instrumentally, the track is built around two layered guitars, the combo of lead and rhythm complimenting each other with a quietly pulsating backbeat from the drums. Amy Meyer’s vocals switch between soft and wistful, painting an emotive picture with occasional bursts of passionate delivery primarily during the songs pre-chorus before reaching another register during the songs soaring rise during the chorus. The songs bass guitar provides a rhythmic tone that compliments the drum section perfectly and provides the pacing of the track throughout.
While it’s not known whether this track will be attached to a larger project or full-length release, “pet cemetery” has received praise by fans and critics for its poignant lyrics and depth of atmosphere. It comes on the back of an announcement from Amy Meyer that she’s no longer affiliated with Studio60 Records and will be releasing music as an independent artist going forward, a positive indication that the track marks Amy Meyer’s official return to the industry having not had her name attached to any project since 2020. Thought it remains to be seen, it’s likely that the single represents a turning point in Amy Meyer’s career, free from the restrictions of being signed to a major record label and a shift toward a more creatively freeing way of working. It’s highly likely that “pet cemetery” will be seen as a new starting point for Amy Meyer going forward.
Songwriter’s Comments;Quote:“Pet Cemetery” is the first song I wanted to put out on my own back, for months I knew we were getting closer to finally coming to an agreement on my release from Studio60 Records. It’s been almost five years of wanting so badly to put my songs out for fans to hear but not wanting to oversell them. Finally I can just put a song out and let it be. The reason I haven’t released anything for five years is because every time I talked about releasing a track, it was followed by questions about how we go about marketing it. If you know my music, you know there’s no way of answering that question seriously. This track is a symbol of excitement for me, to know that this is the first one where I can put a song out and not have to consider anything beyond it’s initial release.
The song started with that line, “grief’s just a memory with the volume turned way up”, I love to throw in references and that’s one that really accelerated the track. It felt like the core of what I wanted to say in that moment. Not showing grief as something big and dramatic, but as something quiet and slow-burning which I think is actually more true to the feeling. I’ve lived a lot of life already despite still being young, which means I’ve seen a lot of strong relationships fall by the wayside and I’ve lost people way too soon. Memory distorts things but it also preserves a lot of things and I think that’s an idea that I used unintentionally within the lyrics. The title was an obvious nod to Pet Sematary, sure, but that line from Stephen King and the feeling that he captures in his work, the way nostalgia and loss can creep up on you like horror, but soft. That’s the feeling that I wanted the track to have.
Musically, I wanted it to feel like walking through a photo album, moments of warmth but sharp in certain places. Like stumbling across photographs of happy memories before you pick one up that immediately pulls at the heart. We leaned a little in that Midwest Emo influence, open chords and melodic lines, it’s a sound that has always felt warm to me. Sara (Brie-Loren) really got it immediately from a production aspect and Lydia and Charlie’s performance gave the track just enough of what it needed, the rhythm needed to feel like a heartbeat and not a jump scare.
Leaving the label was hard. I have great memories of working with them for the last two Riot! albums and my own solo album, but I knew they wanted a little more give and take from me. They indulged me on “bandages and gauze” by allowing an unannounced release and minimal promotion, one lead single and nothing more. But I knew they expected me pay them back on a follow-up that never came. It was time for both of us to part from each other, I needed to make sure I stayed away from the template and if I had remained at Studio60 I think eventually I would have caved and given them that project they hoped I’d be. Going independent wasn’t a business move, I didn’t know if I would feel like releasing anything independently, I honestly believed I was done. I was recording things constantly but never with any real intention to release. But this is about me trusting my own voice again. It’s a risk, financially there’s no real reward it’s just about taking back my soul in a way. And “pet cemetery” was the first time in a long while that I felt like I wasn’t writing for someone. I was writing to someone. It feels good to put something out and let it fall where it may. The people that need to find it, will hopefully find it.”
- Amy Meyer
“Pet Cemetery”“There’s a Polaroid taped to my mirror
At sixteen, flipping off the camera
You in that Misfits tee with the sleeves cut off
Me in too much eyeliner that I used to think made me look tough
That mall’s a ghost town now, I drove by last week
Half the car park’s been turned to apartment blocks right where we used to meet
Man, I swear I heard your laugh in the empty food court’s echo
Like a jump scare in a film I was never ready for
Does your mom still live at three twenty two
I’ll bet that porch light still flickers like she’s in mourning for you
I left you a mix in the mailbox once
But that was before I heard you had gone
Twelve tracks that I can’t quite remember, but I know that “Landslide” was on
You loved those melancholy songs just as much as me
I guess we were both old before our time
I miss you like the autumn when winter sets in
I guess somehow that connection just wasn’t quite enough
I laugh how you said Stephen King gets it
That grief’s just a memory with the volume turned way upAnd I’ve been dreaming in sepia tones again
Reminiscing on those days we swore we’d never let end
But time’s a liar and a professional cheap shot
It just takes what you love, then makes you forget what you’ve lost
I’ve tried to bring you back like my favourite ghost
In all of those lines that I’ve written and the songs that I’ve scored
I swear I’ll write you perfect one of these days
Right now I’ll settle for a familiar hazeI’ve still got your denim jacket that you never picked up
I thought I found a note in the pocket that just said “I’m yours”
But I unfolded it and it was an origami fortune teller
I just smiled and whispered to myself, “what’s your favourite colour?”
Fuck, I think I cried my entire soul
I don’t think it meant much at the time
But it hurts so much harder that it feels forever ago
I can’t believe I was ever in a rush to grow up
You loved those melancholy songs just as much as me
I guess we were both old before our time
I miss you like the autumn when winter sets in
I guess somehow that connection just wasn’t quite enough
I laugh how you said Stephen King gets it
That grief’s just a memory with the volume turned way upAnd I’ve been dreaming in sepia tones again
Reminiscing on those days we swore we’d never let end
But time’s a liar and a professional cheap shot
It just takes what you love, then makes you forget what you’ve lost
I’ve tried to bring you back like my favourite ghost
In all of those lines that I’ve written and the songs that I’ve scored
I swear I’ll write you perfect one of these days
Right now I’ll settle for a familiar hazeLast week I passed that field behind the school
Where we lit those sparklers in July and tried our very best to act cool
Well, as cool as we can, wearing an REO Speedwagon tank
You were right, in hindsight it was misjudged
But you know I’m a sucker for a soaring build up and big power chords
Those goalposts seem taller now, but maybe I’ve just shrunk
I stood for a while, imagining you trying to pull me up
I tried to speak to you
But my voice wouldn’t come
Inside my head
I just kept telling myself that this is dumb
You loved those melancholy songs just as much as me
I guess we were both old before our time
I miss you like the autumn when winter sets in
I guess somehow that connection just wasn’t quite enough
I laugh how you said Stephen King gets it
That grief’s just a memory with the volume turned way upAnd I’ve been dreaming in sepia tones again
Reminiscing on those days we swore we’d never let end
But time’s a liar and a professional cheap shot
It just takes what you love, then makes you forget what you’ve lost
I’ve tried to bring you back like my favourite ghost
In all of those lines that I’ve written and the songs that I’ve scored
I swear I’ll write you perfect one of these days
Right now I’ll settle for a familiar haze”
Credits & Personnel;CREDITSRecorded by Amy Meyer
Produced by Amy Meyer, Sara Brie-Loren
Engineered by Sara Brie-Loren
Mixed by Sara Brie-Loren
Recorded at Topanga Room Studios – Los Angeles, California, USA
PERSONNELAmy Meyer – vocals, lyrics, composition, production
Sara Brie-Loren – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, production, engineering, mixing
Lydia Santangelo – bass guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Hawks – drums, percussion
