Katie Gavin has released her new single, “Casual Drug Use“, taken from her upcoming debut solo album, What A Relief. The earliest written and one of the most infectious tracks on the album, “Casual Drug Use” is as anthemic as it is vulnerable, and recalls classic heartland rock and road songs like The Chicks’ “The Long Way Around.”
Gavin says this about the track: “This is a song about being young and on bad behavior, and the comfort of having friends by your side. I wrote it in 2016 after a day trip I took with a friend, and so I thought it would be sweet to film the video on a road trip I had planned with my childhood best friend. The different colored potions in the video are meant to be a stand-in for whatever external substance we use to change our internal states.“
On her debut solo album What A Relief, to be released on Saddest Factory Records, Katie Gavin proves herself as one of her generation’s most deft songwriters, able to articulate discomfiting feelings with grace and pragmatism. What A Relief scrutinizes our collective need for intimacy and romance without judgment or harshness.
“Casual Drug Use” comes off the heels of “Aftertaste” a song which indulges in the headrush of new romance, effortless in the way all Gavin’s best pop songs are. “Aftertaste” leaps and stumbles forward toward desire, its recklessness part of the fun. “That song takes place inside of the magnetic force, when I’m really drawn to somebody and still feeling like it’s gonna work,” she says. “Sometimes it’s fun to surrender to that feeling – I think a lot of songwriters have a strong relationship with romantic fantasy.”
Described, accurately, by Gavin as “Lilith Fair-core,” What A Relief taps into the unguarded self-possession and homespun pop sensibility of singers like Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple and Ani DiFranco, and uses their tenacity as a North Star for Gavin’s own trek towards self-discovery.
Gavin will also be embarking on a national tour this fall playing intimate rooms across the US as well as a sold out London show. All dates are listed below.
TOUR DATES
Sep 7 – Evanston Folk Festival – Evanston, IL
Sep 10 – Rough Trade East – London, UK^ *sold out*
Sep 11 – The Old Church – London, UK^+ *sold out*
Sep 22 – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA #
Nov 18 – Neumos – Seattle WA^ tickets
Nov 19 – Neumos – Seattle WA^ *sold out*
Nov 20 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland OR^ *sold out*
Nov 22 – Bimbo’s 365 Club – SF, CA^ *sold out*
Nov 24 – Pappy + Harriet’s – Pioneertown, CA^ *sold out*
Nov 25 – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever – Los Angeles, CA^ *sold out*
Nov 26 – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever – Los Angeles, CA^ *sold out*
Nov 27 – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever – Los Angeles, CA^ *sold out*
Dec 8 – The Blue Room – Nashville, TN^ *sold out*
Dec 10 – Bowery Ballroom – NY, NY^ *sold out*
Dec 11 – Bowery Ballroom – NY, NY^ *sold out*
Dec 13 – The Atlantis – Washington DC^ *sold out*
Dec 14 – Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA^ *sold out*
Dec 16 – The Opera House – Toronto, ON^ *sold out*
Dec 18 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL^ *sold out*
^ headline
# supporting Bleachers
+ support from jasmine.4.t.