Atlanta-bred songwriter Often has been releasing music for a few years now as a solo artist, but today they’re revealing that their debut album, Dirty Saint, will arrive on October 8. Along with the news comes their second single of the year—following April’s “By Summer”—in the form of “Palm Trees,” a fusion of a soft, minimal beat and even softer vocals—a commendably tranquil track considering its origins within a turbulent moment of quarantine-induced introspection.
“I had a best friend that I would refer to as my longest relationship,” they share, setting the scene. “We spent our twenties partying and weeping all over New York’s lesbian dance floors. It was exactly how your twenties should go, including how abruptly it all seems to end. There was so much buried beneath our friendship, so when I moved away and started to know and see myself more clearly I really couldn’t avoid our disjointed roots.
“Last year was particularly hard, as it was for literally everyone, but it also gave me a lot of time to sit and stew and work things out and be mad in ways I never gave myself the grace to be,” they continue. “One night when I got near the end of that rope it was about two in the morning and I just needed to do something with all the energy. I started playing these very simple chords and this sweet melody formed and turned into ‘Palm Trees.’ There’s kind of a knot in the song, a lump in your throat of all the things left unsaid, but it’s ultimately a simple goodbye. An acknowledgement of what was and the peace of knowing when it’s time to turn the page.”
The video for the track reflects the liminal feel both of the song and the peaceful mental space it was created in, depicting little more than a lonely day at the beach with the backdrop’s lighting at times bordering on surreal. Watch it below.
