joan’s not all that ‘nervous’

With a touch of Neo-R&B for added flavour and groove, two-piece alt-pop outfit ‘joan’ have released their newest single, “nervous”, a giddy and exciting anthem to take you back to that first schoolyard crush and the strange new feeling of romantic infatuation.

www.instagram.com/songsbyjoan
songsbyjoan.lnk.to/nervous

Hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas, the duo’s umbrella encompasses a wide range of Pop tendencies to the point where it’s safe to assume that every new single is a little bit of a sound surprise in and of itself. Curiously enough, though Arkansas is most definitely in the south, I cannot help but feel a bit of a midwest emo vibe swirling around in joan’s palette; whether that’s some stray influence shining through, coincidence, or some sonic pareidolia on my part, there’s definitely some moody catharsis and intensely vulnerable vocals in there that echo such sensibilities.

joan have enjoyed U.S. and international tours supporting the likes of Jeremy Zucker, COIN, Bloc Party and The Aces, as well as playing to fans across Asia with headline shows and festivals in the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong – they return to Asia for the biggest shows yet, includes dates at a basketball arena and a theme park.

‘nervous’ and its accompanying visuals serve to announce joan’s nationwide U.S. headlining tour beginning May 13th. The 20 dates scheduled will be in support of their highly-anticipated debut album titled ‘superglue’, set to be released on April 19th via Photo Finish Records. The upcoming 12-song record is described to be an “existential journey influenced by the duo’s recent transition into fatherhood.”

The relatively minimalistic track derives most of its melodic powers from the combined youthful vocals of Alan Benjamin Thomas and Steven Rutherford, meanwhile, the colourful music video throws you back in time with its fish-eye lens use and noisy VHS-like shots. Of the song’s inception proper, the band says: “we wrote this song with the lovely Emily Falvey of Nashville and Jonathan Capeci from Nightly, and the second we all walked into the room together there was immediate chemistry between us. We wanted to get as close to the emotion of a sort of school-like love story, where you constantly want to be around them but you also literally feel like you’re going to throw up because you’re so… nervous (wink), and you don’t want to say the wrong thing around them. it’s such a cool and distinct feeling, we hope this song takes you back to that place.”

joan U.S. tour dates

May 13 – The Masquerade (Hell Stage): Atlanta, GA May 14 – The Basement East: Nashville, TN
May 16 – Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY May 17: The Lounge @ World Cafe: Philadelphia, PA May 19 – The Black Cat: Washington DC
May 20 – The Sinclair: Boston, MA
May 23 – The Velvet Underground, Toronto, ON
May 25 – Subterranean: Chicago, IL
May 31 – Parish: Austin, TX
June 1 – Club Dada: Dallas, TX
June 3 – Valley Bar: Phoenix, AZ
June 4 – Voodoo Room @ HOB: San Diego, CA June 6 – Constellation Room: Santa Ana, CA
June 7 – Teragram Ballroom: Los Angeles, CA
June 8 – Popscene @ Rickshaw Shop: San Fransisco, CA June 10 – Polaris Hall: Portland, OR
June 11 – Barboza: Seattle, WA
June 13 – Soundwell: Salt Lake City, UT
June 14 – Larimer Lounge: Denver, CO
June 16 – Little Rock Music Hall: Little Rock, AR