2021 marks the 10-year anniversary of What So Not. For Chris Emerson, the creative at the heart of the project, it is a time of realization and research, rethinking and renewal. It would be easy for the Australian producer and DJ to stay sequestered in What So Not’s significant accomplishments, not the least of which are surpassing one billion global streams and collecting Gold Plaques. Instead, Emerson scaled back his touring to get re-centered as a person and refreshed as an artist. He immersed himself in an artist community, absorbing a variety of creative stimuli and exploring new ways of expressing himself. The first decade of What So Not revolved around high-profile collaborations, headlining tours and major festivals across the globe, not to mention creative artistic achievements. The second decade of What So Not starts with reflection and revitalization, and new innovations from the ever-shifting Emerson.

An answer to his 2018 debut, Not All The Beautiful Things, Anomaly is the product of creative visualization undertaken during COVID-19’s pause on live music programming. And although Anomaly has roots in a period of quietude and isolation, it is no less collaborative than its predecessor. Like Not All The Beautiful Things, Anomaly invites appearances from a diverse cast of artists, including MØ, who graces the 2022 edit of “Mercy,” EVAN GIIA, Louis The Child, and Oliver Tree, to name just a few. The circumstances under which What So Not developed Anomaly—unusual free time and singular focus—allowed him to “refine and hone in on this album like [he’s] never been able to in the past,” he notes. “For me, this is my best work.”