A bold and ambitious return, Blue Cactus continue to push their vision of the classic country sound, they might be strangers now yet give this record your time and it might just be the start of a beautiful friendship.įTR: For those who don’t know who are Blue Cactus?īased in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Blue Cactus is Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, partners in life and music. The track explores the shifting dynamic of a long-term relationship, the importance of putting effort in to keep it working, and ensuring it remains, “in the intentional space” where the most intimate connections lurk.
Particularly wonderful is the title track, recently shared as a single. The otherworldliness of the music, is almost in perfect contrast to their distinctly grounded and human story-telling, throughout the record they tackle topics as old as music itself loss and longing, self-improvement and self-expression, personal, political and human struggles, and the joys of hard work paying off. The band have described the record as, “a dive into Cosmic American music”, taking their music into ambitious new planes, where country-rock meets light psychedelia as the soaring vocals, meet twangy slide-guitars and propulsive almost prog-influences bass-lines. As they spent more time on the stage, their sound travelled with them, writing the songs and finding the styles that would shape their second album, Stranger Again, due out this week via Sleepy Cat Records. Like so many bands before them, that success led to a period of extensive touring, they took to music festivals and state fairs, played with country legends old and new, and generally spent time anywhere but home. In their highly anticipated follow-up, Blue Cactus lay an emboldened claim upon that space between the comfort of classic country and the glamor of 70s rock-a glowing space between earth and sky.In 2017, following the release of their eponymous debut album, the North Carolina-based duo, Blue Cactus, were the toast of music bloggers worldwide. The band landed performances at beloved festivals like Nashville’s Muddy Roots and Raleigh’s Hopscotch as well as tour support for The War & Treaty, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Lilly Hiatt, and Junior Brown. It’s a choice.īlue Cactus’ self-titled debut album garnered acclaim from the likes of Paste Magazine, No Depression, and INDY Week among others. Daily life with a partner can be mundane or precious. This is how we let our love evolve and root. I came to understand that the deepest levels of intimacy are created in that intentional space. It was a beautiful thing, having that space to miss each other. In his absence, I realized I had fallen into this pattern where I didn’t fully appreciate the life we were making together. Of the new single, Steph shares: This song came in a rare moment of solitude when Mario was on tour with HC McEntire. Her vocals vibrate with emotion under tasteful restraint, reminiscent of Stevie Nicks.
From a place of trying intimacy, or as she calls it, “the trappings of the day-to-day - dirty dishes, piles of laundry, keeping score,” singer and songwriter Steph Stewart looks back to the beginning of love and sings with poignant longing: I wanna be your stranger again. “Stranger Again” examines the shifting dynamics in a relationship. Blue Cactus, the North Carolina duo of Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, have shared the third and final single ahead of their upcoming sophomore album Stranger Again, out May 7 on Sleepy Cat Records.
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