LOS ANGELES, California—Acclaimed alt pop duo joan has recently shared the release of their highly anticipated new single and video for “don’t wanna be your friend” earlier this month via Photo Finish Records. The single is the first taste of their forthcoming debut album.
“don’t wanna be your friend” was created after the band returned home from their biggest headline tour yet. In a statement, the band noted, “We immediately started writing songs again when we got home. after over two years of releasing music without playing shows alongside those releases, we had never felt so energized and inspired to start working our best songs yet. ‘don’t wanna be your friend’ was the first song that we wrote after tour, and we immediately knew it was an extremely special song.”
Co-written with their friend Jon Capeci from the band Nightly, “don’t wanna be your friend” details the all too relatable feeling of being in a relationship with someone you love and feel close to but knowing that you need to move on as that person is not the right one for you.
Images courtesy of Photo Finish Records
joan further reveals, “It’s also about growing up, though, and knowing that you just can’t continue being friends with each other, because you know how that situation turns out. Hope this song resonates with you in some way, makes you realize you need to cut that person out of your life, makes you move, makes you want to start a band, makes you want to call your best friend.”
“don’t wanna be your friend” features colorful synths over electronic-dipped landscapes and dream-filled melodies culminating into a sing-a-long worthy chorus. The song is a standout and empowering pop anthem all about moving on. The accompanying video shows joan’s light-hearted and comedic side complete with an alien invasion to boot.
Images courtesy of Photo Finish Records
The Little Rock, Arkansas based twosome is known for creating expansive pop music productions from inside their bedrooms in deep middle America. Their infectious blend of pop eras, DIY, self-sustaining aesthetic and deep connection with their fanbase has resulted in international success with over 120 million streams and sold out shows across the globe including headlining 15,000+ capacity venues in Asia.
joan (Alan Benjamin Thomas and Steven Rutherford) has spent the past few years building their world, single by single, tour date by tour date; hot off the heels of their debut EP, 2019’s “portra”, to the much-loved cloudy & its sister EP “partly cloudy”, to 2021’s “hi” & “bye” EPs. Their songs have been streamed over 120 million times, with well over a million listeners a month across streaming platforms.
joan recently wrapped up US and international tours supporting the likes of Jeremy Zucker, COIN, Bloc Party and The Aces, as well as playing to fans across Asia with headline shows and festivals in the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong-they return to Asia for the biggest shows yet, includes dates at a basketball arena and a theme park.
joan’s infectious blend of pop eras & styles belies their roots in Little Rock, Arkansas, but their sense of warmth and community from those around them at home gives their music a sense of belonging often missing from others’ and that extends to their fanbase, with whom they interact via a successful Patreon page and through free meet & greets at every show.
2023 promises to be the band’s biggest yet, with the release of their debut album and worldwide touring & festivals.
Watch the video of the duo’s latest track here: