In Greta Kline's world, it's easy to release dozens of albums if you think no one's listening.That's what the 22-year-old did for years, prolifically putting out music online, most recently under the name Frankie Cosmos. Now, however, Kline is adjusting to her melodic indie-pop reaching a wider audience.Originally a solo project and now backed by a band (David Maine, Lauren Martin and Luke Pyenson), New York-based Frankie Cosmos' songs are short and sincere, best described as introspection served with a spoonful of sugar.On second album "Next Thing," released on Bayonet Records in April, Kline returns to familiar subject matter, but with more distance and perspective."I've always written about a lot of the same themes, but 'Next Thing' is kind of the first time that I've written about them much later," Kline said.Ahead of Frankie Cosmos' show Wednesday at the Windup Space, Kline spoke on the phone about stage fright, the assumptions people make about her lyrics and quitting music.What was your introduction to music and performing?The first music-learning thing that I took seriously was piano lessons when I was a kid. I guess that was probably the only time that I was forced to perform music, because I had piano recitals and my school also had mandatory music classes that had some performing required. But I was never really into performing. I was really stage-frighty. And then when I got older, like 14 or so, I started writing songs and going to rock shows, and thinking about that performance setting more.Have you gotten over your stage fright?I haven't 100 percent gotten over it, but I find ways to deal with it. I think the more I force myself to perform, the better it gets. But actually, now I've kind of figured out a way to utilize stage fright to actually make my performance more interesting for myself."Next Thing" was your first album that you knew, going in, would receive a "real" release. How did that change or inform the process of putting the album together, if at all?I think it partly — probably subconsciously — affected me knowing that people would hear it, but also I think mostly I was thinking about knowing that the album would take awhile to put out and that I would then have to tour for a long time. So kind of thinking, "What songs am I gonna want to be singing two years from now, or whatever, and want to be playing every night?" So I think that made me a bit more picky about what songs actually made it onto the album.You initially intended for your music to be heard by a small group or no one at all. How have you adjusted to it reaching a larger audience?It's been weird, but I'm totally happy about it and I think that I'm happy because it means that I get to do it more. Performing is something that has really grown on me and become an important part of my life, which I didn't used to feel. I didn't used to want to really perform live a lot. It's been an interesting adjustment. I'm trying to not let it affect my writing. That's the main thing that I'm trying to not think about too much, but it's been cool.To what extent are your songs autobiographical?It depends. Sometimes I'll write something that's purely autobiographical and sometimes pure fiction, and sometimes a mix.Do people tend to assume that all of your songs are autobiographical?Yes.Is it ever difficult or uncomfortable to go to that place, when a lot of people also know about your personal life? [Kline dates Aaron Maine of the band Porches.]It's just funny because there's obviously so many emotions that I write about. I think a lot of the times people will be like, "Oh, well how did you write this sad song? We know that you've had a boyfriend for five years" or something, and it's like, having a cool boyfriend doesn't equal one emotion that I'm supposed to have all the time. It's kind of funny, people projecting stuff onto it.Also, even if I'm writing about something that's unrelated to my relationship or if I have a different emotion, I feel like people often project. If I write a sad song, it doesn't necessarily have to be about my current relationship or anything, but people will be like, "Did you guys break up?"Do you think you'll keep doing this forever? What's next for Frankie Cosmos?I think that I'm definitely going to keep writing music forever. I can't stop even if I tried. I don't know what's in the future, really. We like touring, and I like having a band and making albums. Hopefully more of that. We're working on our next album right now and arranging it and doing a lot of touring for the rest of the year, and then hopefully recording again soon.What's prompted you to try to stop writing music?I felt like I'd had enough. This is years ago; nobody had even heard my music. I was just like, "OK, well I'm done, it's over," and then I just kept making stuff. For me, it's like writing in a diary. I don't think of it as work. I mean, sometimes it feels like work when something's really hard to write, but I feel like it's a natural thing for me, a way of expressing emotions for me that's very useful for my personal emotional processes. So yeah, I feel like I couldn't stop making music even if I wanted to.INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSEDqkelley@baltsun.comtwitter.com/quinnrkelley