Joanna Sternberg is gearing up to release their debut album next month. We’ve already heard two songs from the New York-based musician’s Then I Try Some More, including “This Is Not Who I Want To Be” and “For You.” Today, they’re sharing a third single called “Step Away.”

Folky picks and strums sway as a resolved Sternberg croons, “Step away from me dear/ It’s so easy to see/ Cause anyone who’s watching knows you’re too beautiful for me.” Wurlitzer-like trills begin to accompany the acoustic walk-downs. Here they are with more details explaining the song’s meaning:

“Step Away” is about the complex mixed emotions I experienced when I fell in love with a new friend who did not reciprocate my feelings. This person constantly wanted to spend time alone with me, while rejecting all of my (many) blatant confessions and proposals of wanting us to be intimate and romantic. I knew that I would be in pain when I went home after we would hang out, but the desire to spend time with this person overpowered that sad fact. My friend and I wound up becoming a “couple,” and we were romantic partners for three years. Although I did become involved with this person, there have been countless other friends who have ultimately rejected my love, so this song tells many stories of my friendships. The main emotional states I wanted to express while writing this song (and I want to express when I perform it) were longing, unrequited love, feeling insecure about every aspect of myself (how I look, how I behave and everything else in between.) The irony of this song, is that I find (and have always found) every human to be equally physically beautiful, and I am the only person I find shallow appearance-based flaws with. Oh well! I guess I have more songs to write!

Listen to “Step Away” below.

Then I Try Some More is out 7/12 via Team Love Records. Pre-order it here.