Despite forming over half a decade ago, the Americana-tinged rock duo Cash & Skye only have two songs to their name: the Third Man Records–released “No More Candy” single along with its B-side, “Sweeping Wet Floors.” That all changes today as vocalist Sophia Skye and Starcrawler guitarist Henri Cash announce the reveal of their debut album Just a Stranger with that project’s first single, the twanging saloon-rock number “Stranger.”
Given the track’s rural feel, perhaps it’s no surprise to hear Cash introduce the tune’s lyrical themes through his background in commercial fishing, a short-lived career inspired by his first true love: Deadliest Catch. “Watching the fish slam onto the deck and wrestle the brisk air ’til they became as lifeless as a pile of gravel is what made me decide it wasn’t for me,” he explains. “I’d watch a thousand eyes fall blank on the deck each time the crane dropped. Eventually I couldn’t help but see these eyes as a disco ball of self-reflection and compare myself to another minnow caught in the net.”
Mentioning another unexpected pop-cultural reference point for the song, Skye shares how the track sets up the 12 that follow: “You ever watch Megamind? It starts out with the protagonist seemingly hopeless in a free fall. Then he hits you with the ‘You’re probably wondering how I got here.’ You’re captured immediately, and you’re taken through the story at the edge of your seat. I’d say ‘Stranger’ starts us off like Megamind free falling.”
Just a Stranger will arrive February 21 following a long set of legal hurdles preventing Cash from releasing music outside of his contract with his day job in Starcrawler. “It often felt very disheartening to never be able to release what we had been working so hard on for so long,” Skye adds. “There were times I thought that no one would ever get to hear the music. But now that Starcrawler are releasing music independently, Henri and I have free range to release these songs we’ve been working on over the years. It’s incredibly exciting for us to finally share this passion project with the world.”
Hear the first taste of that passion below, and pre-save the LP here.
