Maybe this June heatwave that folks all over the US have been enduring lately isn’t the best moment to draw attention to the impending furnace that July tends to subject us to—but then again, when Philip Lupton and Truett Heintzelman’s sophomore album as Briscoe drops in September we should (hopefully) be well on our way to autumnal temps. The Austin-based folk-rock duo is formally announcing their new project Heat of July today, which Lupton notes largely came together as the pair learned to craft songs on the road while supporting 2023’s debut West of It All—as opposed to the relative luxury of writing while only garnering a local audience. “Coming up with melodies in our heads, without a guitar or piano nearby, was a necessity for us during those tours,” he shares. “We were on the road so much that we had to become more mobile with the creative process.”
The album’s lead single “Roughnecks” proves that this dramatic change didn’t have a negative impact on their compositions—in fact, with the help of producer Brad Cook and a cast of equally in-demand studio musicians, the deeply personal track about the duo’s laboring Texan ancestors feels even more ripe for any future dates with recent tourmates Dave Matthews or Noah Kahan. “The song tells the story of a man who spends his long and strenuous hours of work in the fields reflecting on his past decisions and the girl he left behind, with instrumentation and lyrics that pay homage to the trades that are so integral to our Texas heritage,” explains Heintzelman.
The track arrives with a music video that illustrates the band’s reverence for the Texan landscape: oil rigs, pickups, immaculate golden hours, and all. Check it out below, and pre-order Heat of July here via ATO Records.
