August Ponthier hails from Texas, but as their new album title professes, Everywhere Isn't Texas. For Ponthier, that's a complicated truth — sometimes a relief, sometimes a lament.
The title's backstory goes something like this: Growing up outside Dallas, Ponthier "felt othered and uncomfortable," but after moving to New York at age 20, they realized Texas is responsible for "a lot of the good things about who I am." It's part of a process of self-discovery that includes Ponthier coming out as nonbinary and changing their name days before the new album was to be announced.
Under any name, it's an impressive body of work. Ponthier wrote songs for Everywhere Isn't Texas with some big names in the pop world including Dan Wilson, Amy Allen, Wrabel, and Ethan Gruska, but their own personality comes through loud and clear, especially on tracks like "Handsome," with its cheeky lyric, "Timothée Chalamet, Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac — there's a new it-boy in town, and she's a lesbian!"
Pontheir and their collaborators landed on a nimble and artfully arranged version of pop music with some notes of twang, venturing into different corners of the aesthetic on different tracks. It reminds me a lot of star-crossed-era Kacey Musgraves, another Texan who bucked against certain expectations while making immensely approachable music.
We're several songs into Ponthier's rollout at this point. Today they're sharing "I'm Crying, Are You?" It's an upbeat song about bad vibes, with a disco backbeat and some lush vocal harmonies. "Sure, this could be an elevated song from a birds'-eye-view about how the good guy always wins, but isn't it more fun to complain and dance?" Ponthier shares.
Hear it below along with three previous singles: the brisk "Betty," the swinging "Handsome," and the ballad "Karaoke Queen."
Everywhere Isn't Texas is out 2/13 via Nowhereland Sounds.
