August Ponthier’s new album, Everywhere Isn’t Texas, explores their complicated relationship with their home state — about leaving Texas and coming out as queer.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
If you have left the place where you grew up, your relationship with your hometown might be complicated, which is exactly what August Ponthier sings about.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EVERYWHERE ISN’T TEXAS”)
AUGUST PONTHIER: (Singing) Everywhere isn’t Texas. It’s the only place you know, but that don’t make it home.
CHANG: Ponthier’s new album is called “Everywhere Isn’t Texas” – pretty big clue about where the singer-songwriter is from. And for this week’s New Music Friday segment, we’ll hear all about it from Nastia Voynovskaya of member station KQED in San Francisco. Hi, Nastia.
NASTIA VOYNOVSKAYA, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa. Thank you so much for having me.
CHANG: Oh, well, thanks for being with us. So August Ponthier’s music is new to me. Just tell us a little bit about them. What is their music like? What is their message usually about?
VOYNOVSKAYA: August Ponthier is originally from the Dallas area in Texas, and they make this gorgeous, lush, indie, folk and country-inflected pop. And they have this new album out today, “Everywhere Isn’t Texas.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EVERYWHERE ISN’T TEXAS”)
PONTHIER: (Singing) I was dressing up as someone else so I can shed the skin that weighed me down.
VOYNOVSKAYA: And they wrote it just as they were coming into their own with their gender identity. They changed the name that they’re going by publicly, and they use they/them pronouns now. And that journey of self-discovery is really reflected in August’s really poignant, really hard-hitting songwriting that I have so enjoyed on this album.
CHANG: And that central theme that we mentioned at the top, about home and what a hometown means to us, what does August say about that on this album?
VOYNOVSKAYA: “Everywhere Isn’t Texas” really speaks to the feeling of loving your home but also having to leave it because you can’t be yourself there. So it’s very bittersweet and very complicated.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BETTY”)
PONTHIER: (Singing) I kinda felt weak about myself back then. It’s tough in Texas when you’re hopeless, helpless, different. You say…
VOYNOVSKAYA: And they’ve said the album is equal parts love letter and critique, and the album’s lyrics are very autobiographical and personal and specific. But I think they’re also relatable to a wider audience that isn’t necessarily queer or from the South.
CHANG: Is there a song on this album that you felt especially captured that?
VOYNOVSKAYA: There’s a fun, very catchy song called “Handsome” on there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HANDSOME”)
PONTHIER: (Singing) Maybe I would be handsome like you.
VOYNOVSKAYA: August wrote it years ago when they were discovering their gender identity, and it’s about being perceived as a girl and being jealous of handsome, charming guys that are getting attention from girls.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANG: Wanting that for themselves.
VOYNOVSKAYA: Absolutely. And there’s a line in there where they say, I don’t know if I want to be with you or be you.
CHANG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HANDSOME”)
PONTHIER: (Singing) Handsome, handsome boy. The world loves you. Don’t know if I wanna be with you or be you. Be you.
VOYNOVSKAYA: I think that’s very relatable to queer folks that might not be aware of their gender identity or sexuality but know that something’s up. And I think that’ll be really rewarding for young queer listeners to hear.
CHANG: Yeah. So there are definitely light-hearted elements on this record, but so much of it seems so ponderous too.
VOYNOVSKAYA: Absolutely. There’s a song that hit me very hard called “Angry Man,” and it’s about getting older and looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing parts of relatives in yourself that might’ve traumatized you or that you had a negative experience with.
CHANG: Wow.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ANGRY MAN”)
PONTHIER: (Singing) If you grew up with an angry man in your house all the time, there’s always going to be an angry man in your mind.
VOYNOVSKAYA: It’s dark, but I think for listeners that are grappling with their family legacy or where they come from, this album is very cathartic, and I think it’s really going to hit home.
CHANG: Hit home – thank you so much, Nastia.
VOYNOVSKAYA: Thank you, Ailsa.
CHANG: That was Nastia Voynovskaya of member station KQED. And August Ponthier’s new album, “Everywhere Isn’t Texas,” is out today. You can hear more great new albums on today’s episode of New Music Friday from NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ANGRY MAN”)
PONTHIER: (Singing) Angry man in your mind.
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