Alt-pop duo joan open up concerning the intimate moments and large life questions on the coronary heart of ‘this received’t final without end,’ their cinematic and emotionally charged sophomore album. In dialog with Atwood Journal, Alan Thomas and Steven Rutherford talk about the peace they’ve present in impermanence, the aim that comes from pouring themselves totally into their craft, and the way studying to take a seat with uncertainty made them stronger artists and folks.
for followers of The 1975, Valley, Del Water Hole
Stream: “this received’t final without end” – joan
Search for child, you’ve obtained it made; give up on the lookout for a hurricane whereas you need to be dancing within the rain.
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joan’s second LP is constructed for that actual second when the sky threatens and the ground nonetheless begs you to maneuver – when all the things feels fragile, fleeting, and impossibly stunning all of sudden.
Out of a season that blurred hope and worry, the Arkansas duo of Alan Benjamin Thomas and Steven Rutherford flip life’s heaviest questions into one thing cinematic and alive, channeling the deep pulses of ‘80s dance and synthpop with an irresistible, timeless, fashionable heat and sheen. They dive headlong into body-moving, heart-scouring sound on this received’t final without end, a fantastically radiant reckoning with impermanence and presence – a document about wanting up, loving properly, and studying to stay within the gray.
Launched September 25 by way of Photograph End Information, this received’t final without end expands the Little Rock duo’s universe in each sound and scope. Since first bursting onto the scene in 2017, joan have carved out a luminous area within the indie/alt-pop panorama with their nostalgic but forward-looking mix of heart-on-sleeve emotion and shimmering manufacturing. Over the previous eight years, they’ve launched 4 EPs, toured globally with artists like COIN, The Aces, and MisterWives, and amassed greater than 200 million streams – all whereas writing, producing, and designing each facet of their artwork themselves.
Their 2023 debut album superglue marked a artistic turning level – a fantastically cinematic meditation on life, demise, and all the things between that noticed the pair reflecting on fatherhood, religion, and which means. Atwood Journal praised it as “a launch stuffed with honesty and pure ardour, pure vitality and uncooked emotion… a companion for all times’s highs and lows.” The place that document requested the massive existential questions, this received’t final without end embraces the in-between: The gray areas, the quiet joys, and the sweetness in impermanence. It’s the sound of a band entering into themselves, grounded in gratitude and glowing with confident mild.
The phrase this received’t final without end first appeared in a poem Steven Rutherford wrote whereas his spouse was pregnant with their second youngster – a high-risk being pregnant that blurred hope and worry into one fragile, unshakable feeling.
“Final yr, my spouse and I have been pregnant with our boy, and we have been advised that he had a kidney situation the place he would have just one working kidney, which put him underneath the class of an ‘in danger’ being pregnant,” Rutherford tells Atwood Journal. “We discovered this out on the similar time joan was having a number of the highlights of our profession: We’d simply completed our first album cycle, we simply obtained residence from touring so many components of the world, and we simply moved into our studio which we had dreamt about having for years. On high of that, Alan simply had his second youngster, and we had extra tune concepts than we had ever had earlier than. It was this extremely tangible intersecting feeling of complete hopefulness and hopelessness – like having a transparent path forward, however realizing that there’s something simply over the horizon blocking the best way.”
“I bear in mind at some point throughout that interval simply envisioning this darkish cloud looming over me, following me wherever I went. Even on my finest days, it felt like all the things was overshadowed by this potential darkness within the distance.” Out of that painful season got here the phrase that may outline all the things: this received’t final without end.
“Someday, I wrote a poem to attempt to course of these emotions, and out of that poem got here the phrase ‘this received’t final without end,’” Rutherford continues. “That phrase appeared to hang-out me over the subsequent yr, reminding me to make the most of the sunny days we have been in and that the darkish days at all times finish. Nothing lasts without end – good occasions or dangerous – and that gave me mild.”
Because the band’s world was increasing – new music, new studio, new milestones – Rutherford discovered himself haunted and comforted by these phrases: A reminder that all the things strikes, all the things modifications, and all the things ends. “We wrote this album with that phrase because the framework: Each lyric, each sound, each idea, even the tracklisting,” he says. “This album is a yr of pouring our coronary heart into the songs amid lengthy days on the studio.”
That sense of emotional duality runs by way of each word of the document.
Musically, this received’t final without end attracts from the deep wells of ‘80s dance and synth-pop – echoes of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, New Order, and The Automobiles shimmer by way of its neon-lit environment – nevertheless it’s filtered by way of joan’s distinctly fashionable lens. The duo weave shiny textures and pulsing basslines with an intimate, human core, creating songs that really feel as confessional as they’re cinematic. In spirit, they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with contemporaries like Valley and The 1975: Artists who blur nostalgia and presence with catchy hooks and daring melodies, pairing shiny manufacturing with unflinching coronary heart. The result’s a group of songs that strikes as a lot because it heals – euphoric, reflective, and deeply alive.
Heartfelt and intentional, album opener “this received’t final without end” completely units the scene – it’s intimate and irresistible, grounding the document in reflection whereas reaching for launch. From there, joan let emotion and movement collide. Tracks like “physique language” and “lucid dreaming” burst with kinetic vitality, translating catharsis into pure, unrestrained motion. “supernatural” rises and unravels in sluggish, cinematic waves; “heartbodymindsoul” burns brilliant with feverish devotion; and shutting observe “area” ends the journey by itself spellbinding excessive. “Name it a dream, I see you in my sleep / Name me your moon, I revolve round you / Name me insane, I’m in love along with your area,” Thomas sings within the finale – a becoming exhale for a document that holds the sunshine and the darkish, the understanding and the unknown, all in the identical breath.
Collectively, all these songs hint a full-bodied arc – from late-night introspection to dawn launch – with sequencing that breathes, surging and settling so each excessive has consequence. The hooks stick, the strains linger, and the drum-machine pulse and glistening keys wrap human-scale tales in widescreen mild. Threaded by way of all of it, this received’t final without end isn’t resignation however permission: really feel it totally, let it move, and transfer once more. By the point “area” dissolves, you’re lighter, charged, and slightly extra current – the storm nonetheless on the horizon, the dance nonetheless in your bones.
With this received’t final without end, joan have crafted an album that feels each deeply private and universally resonant – a soundtrack for change, resilience, and all the attractive chaos in between.
“I hope individuals listening to it really feel how a lot time and intention we’ve put into this document,” Rutherford says. “We went to work each single day for a yr and a half with the only focus of engaged on this album. We fastidiously crafted each sound, each drum hit, each lyric, melody, visible, no matter. We put our coronary heart and soul into this album till we didn’t have something left in us.”
He continues, “I hope it provides you mild when you’re feeling darkish and helps you’re feeling seen. Both method, this received’t final without end.” The document glows with that intention: It’s a reminder to remain current, to maintain transferring, and to bop even when the rain begins to fall.
In dialog with Atwood Journal, Thomas and Rutherford replicate on the making of this received’t final without end, the facility of impermanence, and the enjoyment of making one thing that feels completely, unmistakably their very own. We additionally talk about the band’s progress since superglue, the tales behind a number of the album’s standout songs, and what it means to make peace with the passage of time. Dive into our dialog under, as joan open up about creativity, connection, and the fantastic thing about realizing nothing lasts without end.
For an album that’s all about “confronting impending doom,” joan depart us feeling hopeful, revitalized, surprisingly at peace – crafting an expertise that turns worry into magnificence and uncertainty into one thing softly, defiantly human. Stream this received’t final without end wherever you take heed to music, and watch joan’s unique efficiency on Atwood Journal‘s IGTV live performance sequence, Stay: From Anyplace, In every single place!
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Stream: ‘this received’t final without end’ – joan
A CONVERSATION WITH JOAN
Atwood Journal: Alan and Steven, for many who are simply discovering joan at present by way of this writeup, what would you like them to find out about you and your music?
joan: In case you’re simply now assembly us, hello! We’re referred to as joan, we’re a pop duo, and we make all the things – each tune, lyric, visible, design, no matter – ourselves. We care a lot about our band and the data we make, and we wish everybody who listens to our music to know precisely who it comes from.
Are you able to share slightly concerning the story behind your sophomore LP, this received’t final without end?
joan: We purchased a home and turned it right into a studio after we launched our final document. We renovated it and instantly began recording concepts. We had dreamed of getting our personal studio for therefore lengthy; we had simply been in one another’s spare rooms for the reason that starting of joan, and this was a dream of ours from the beginning. We began and completed this document on this studio — it’s the one music we’ve made on this home, so it has a extremely particular place in our hearts due to that. We began releasing songs for the document as we have been ending the document — we wished individuals to have the ability to watch us type it into existence. It was a extremely enjoyable course of.
How do you’re feeling this received’t final without end reintroduces joan and captures your artistry, particularly in comparison with superglue?
joan: We positively assume it feels extra mature? Possibly? With superglue, we have been asking ourselves quite a lot of questions on life and existence and simply what all the things means, and it nearly had this curious lightness to the document. In distinction, I believe this received’t final without end got here from a mindset of realizing there’ll at all times be extra questions than solutions, and to stay within the gray space of life. There’s no hurry; there’s extra confidence in sitting with emotions extra. It simply feels general extra assured in who we’re as individuals and artists, I believe.
Why the title this received’t final without end? What does the title imply for you?
joan: “This received’t final without end” as a phrase and idea got here from a poem I (Steven) wrote throughout the being pregnant of our second youngster. He had been labeled as a “excessive danger” being pregnant, and we actually had no thought what life was going to be like as soon as he was born. It was a time in my life that felt fully unknown, and I bear in mind feeling like this darkness was following me, even on the perfect and most hopeful days of my life. I wrote a poem to sort of course of these emotions, and “this received’t final without end” ended up being one thing I simply stored being reminded of. It has been a extremely potent reminder since then, and we simply felt prefer it wanted to be the framework of this album.
The album opens with the heartfelt title observe; are you able to share slightly bit about this tune and why it’s so essential for you?
joan: It’s a commentary about life within the fashionable world. We’ve obtained info throughout us, and we have now extra instruments at our disposal than ever earlier than. On the similar time, persons are extra depressed than ever; there’s extra division than ever, blah blah blah, you get it. The thought behind the tune is attempting to course of what to do with it. It’s a name to cease worrying a lot about what’s in your hand and focus extra on what’s in your precise life. “Search for child you bought it made, give up on the lookout for a hurricane whereas you need to be dancing within the rain.”
You’ve been teasing tracks from this album for the higher a part of a full yr (“heartbodymindsoul” got here out in Sept ‘24). On condition that, which tune – or songs – are you most excited to have out on the album proper now?
joan: “supernatural,” for certain. It’s lengthy and dynamic; it’s nearly like two songs in a single. Lots of people have been actually digging that one, which has been good to see.
In the identical vein, do you’ve any definitive favorites or private highlights off this document? Which tracks imply probably the most to you at present?
joan: “area” looks like a kind of songs that was given to us reasonably than us really writing it. It feels bizarre saying it about your personal tune, but when that was a tune we heard another person sing, we’d want we might have written it, if that is smart. [laughs]
As a lyrically ahead band, do you’ve any favourite lyrics in these songs?
joan: So many – truthfully, we’re actually pleased with how we communicated on this album. Right here’s a number of off the highest of my head:
- “Bought a penthouse view of the hurricane coming for us.”
- “You stroll within the door, I see your garments hit the ground, your physique’s high fashion, and God is your designer.”
- “You simply can’t be bothered, in a single ear out the opposite, my ineffective diatribe.”
- “If I’m the ship, you then’re the water. You wreck my life, you blew my cowl.”
I like these strains. Are you able to describe this document in three phrases?
joan: Confronting impending doom.
What do you hope listeners take away from this received’t final without end? What have you ever taken away from creating it and now placing it out?
joan: I hope individuals listening to it really feel how a lot time and intention we’ve put into this document. We went to work each single day for a yr and a half with the only focus of engaged on this album. We fastidiously crafted each sound, each drum hit, each lyric, melody, visible, no matter. We put our coronary heart and soul into this album till we didn’t have something left in us. I don’t really feel like there’s many artists which might be prepared to try this today, simply because all the things strikes so quick. So we hope individuals give it the time it deserves.
For our IGTV live performance, you performed “heartbodymindsoul” and your newest single, “Area.” Why did you select these two songs, and what do they imply to you?
joan: “heartbodymindsoul” was the primary single we put out for the document. It felt like an enormous left flip for us in a very nice method, and it’s what obtained us actually enthusiastic about engaged on music once more. “area” was the final single we put out for the document as a result of it holds a particular place in our hearts, regardless that it’s not essentially what the trade would name a “single.” We simply love these two songs quite a bit.
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© Edward Crockett
