Nick & June’s upcoming record, set for release in September 2025, promises a stirring journey into the heart of indie, dream pop and folk with a sound both expansive and intimate.
The first single, “New Year’s Face”, offers a breathtaking preview of what’s to come — a haunting blend of lush melancholy and raw emotional depth, all wrapped in the kind of understated elegance that recalls the sounds of Sharon Van Etten, early The National, and the cinematic beauty of Lana Del Rey.
Produced by Grammy-winning producer Peter Katis (known for his work with The National, Interpol, Stars, Sharon Van Etten, among others), “New Year’s Face” carries a weight that lingers long after the song fades out. With a sound as vast as the feeling of a bittersweet winter night, the song captures the fragile tension between longing and resignation. Nick & June’s voices carry this vulnerability, weaving through the layered instrumentation with a sense of haunting introspection. The lyrics are a journey into the mind’s most haunted corners. The opening lines – “In my head there are pockets big like rocket ships from the 80s” – set a dreamlike, almost surreal tone. These are followed by moments of quiet surrender, as the narrator contemplates the spaces they inhabit, both external and internal. The outro “I wish your New Year’s face just stayed” becomes an aching plea, a wish to hold on to a fleeting moment that seems to slip away with each passing year. The imagery in the song, particularly the recurring “lucky bombs,” evokes a sense of both hope and devastation, suggesting that the things we count on most may be the very things that leave us in pieces. The repeated longing for something to stay, for something to last – for that “New Year’s face” to remain – speaks to the fleeting nature of connection and the inevitability of change. Musically, “New Year’s Face” is both expansive and minimalistic. Katis’ production enhances the emotional weight of the song, blending ambient textures with more grounded elements. The result is a piece that feels at once lush and raw, with every instrument and every note serving the emotional core of the song.
With “New Year’s Face”, Nick & June have delivered a song that is as much about memory as it is about the present. It’s a meditation on loss, hope, and the aching beauty of things that cannot stay. This first single is just a taste of what’s to come, leaving listeners eagerly anticipating the full album’s release in 2025. In “New Year’s Face”, Nick & June have crafted a song that speaks to the heart – melancholic, tender, and undeniably real.
