Nashville-based, indie rock rising act Ian Ferguson has released his latest single “New Love,” a summer jam meshing psychedelia with classic rock, premiered via FLOOD Magazine. Listen and read here.
Praising “New Love,” FLOOD stated: “The new track presents some of the Nashville-based songwriter’s most carefree sounds, ingraining psychedelic vibes and vintage charm into his growing folk-rock portfolio.”
Taking a new approach to the prior 2020 album, Junk, as well as Ferguson’s breakthrough debut album, State of Gold, “New Love” is amped up with sweetness. Drawing on classic rock influence with a nonchalant ease, meshing alt-country and psychedelic rock alike, “New Love” feels as fresh as a summer breeze and timeless as infatuated love.
The release also gave a taste to Ferguson’s upcoming performance at the legendary Newport Folk Festival, taking place between July 28th to July 30th in Newport, Rhode Island. Ian Ferguson will be performing on July 30th from the BIKE Stage.
“New Love is probably the first song I’ve consciously written about being happy,” Ferguson remarked on the new single, “For whatever reason, I’ve always found it easier to write about negative feelings, like being sad or angry. I suppose I turn to music for some sort of healing and it’s incredibly therapeutic to purge those negative feelings. I’ve also found that happy songs are quicker to come off as unauthentic, cheesy, or at their worst, preachy. However, some of the greatest songs ever written were produced in feelings of gladness and when someone is able to do it well the result can be really special. So I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and see what I could come up with.
“All this to say, I was delicate in putting this track together. From the chord changes to the lyrics, even the crowd at the beginning and end of the song, I wanted to convey a group of people having a good time together. It was recorded, like the rest of the record, in an un-airconditioned attic during the Tennessee summer. Although rough at times, it undoubtedly provided the sound that me and producer William Brown were in search of.”
Ian Ferguson is a self proclaimed high school dropout from a one stoplight town outside of Nashville, he embarked on a solo career after he formed and dissolved his high school band Kingston Springs, when they were on the verge of success, with shows at Austin City Limits Music Festival, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo lineup and a major label deal on the table.
Headstrong with a solo vision, Ferguson self released his debut album State Of Gold, which he claims to have recorded in his moms basement (some of it after he accidentally locked himself inside). Against the odds, it became a breakthrough indie hit, with BILLBOARD comparing him to the “The Beatles and Brian Wilson” and SOUND OPINIONS praised his “Wonderful rootsy psychedelia meets country, that transports you to another world of the best psychedelic rock.”
His latest single “New Love” is a taste of a forthcoming record, which he woodshedded during the pandemic with co-producer Will Brown (Michael Nau, Erin Rae etc) in a Nashville attic with no air conditioning. His songs may be forged in a fire but they are a calming oasis of classic pop. His pleasant auditory road trip rolls down the highway with a golden FM radio haze, but on occasion beautifully veers towards the logic bending verges of the sonic avant-garde. All the while, his singular vocals which sore and swoop, from a smooth baritone to a shattering falsetto, share tales of love, reassurance, and resilience.
