The Pairs - Amy Stroup
Tied together by family and soaring harmonies, The Pairs share stories of life's hope, hilarity, and hardship. Pull up a seat around their lively kitchen table for a unique blend of music that will hug your eardrums and make you want to groove.
A smattering of feelings and self-doubt, "Superhuman" tells a personal yet relatable story of realizing how we get caught up in the way we're being perceived by others instead of truly experiencing life and all the feelings that come with living. We're not perfect, so why do we put so much energy towards trying to convince people that we are? This song marks the intention to try and drop the hyper perfectionism and accept ourselves as fallible and human.
"Superhuman" reminds us that we can be wrong, that we can make mistakes, that we can say things that hurt people, and that none of that makes us bad people, or unlovable.
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Singer-songwriter Amy Stroup creates the kind of songs that transport listeners. Known for her ability to tap into rich, emotional honesty and vivid storytelling, the self-proclaimed “song farmer” will release her fourth solo album, Since Frank, on June 23. The album's next single, "Break the Feeling,” out today, explores presence and grounding.
“Walking, hiking, and trail running multiple times a week are ways of exercise, yes, but more ways that I ground myself ritualistically,” Stroup says. “Movement helps me shake off what holds me up and at the end of a trail I never felt quite the same as when I started.”
Since Frank finds a cohesive sound thanks to producer Chad Copelin (LANY, Broncho, Ben Rector) and his expert hand at transforming live tracking into an expansive finished product, with drips of overdubs and drum samples created by James McAlister (The National, Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens). These handmade elements frame a range of songs Stroup wrote with herself in mind—a change from the hundreds of songs she's written for TV and film, which include backing moments on How I Met Your Father, This Is Us and Grey's Anatomy, among many others. According to Billboard Magazine, she is one of the most licensed women in music today with her work in campaigns for British Airways, Google and Nike, to name a few.
Since Frank, a 10-song collection, covers a wide range of subjects, ultimately settling on what it means to find a way to be okay on the inside. Stroup wrestles with the kind of heaviness—and reprieve—that lives inside all of us: the album begins with the lush strings of “Valley,” a stream of consciousness about how love can lift us from the depths of melancholy. “Night Wave” struggles with intrusive thoughts; there is a yearning for a fresh start on “A New Life” (feat. Broncho), and a certainty of unconditional love in “As Long As You're With Me (feat. Andrew Belle). The album ends with a resounding and hopeful message: “We'll All Be Alright.”
“These songs feel like freeze frames of pivotal emotional moments of me finding a safe place to live from inside my own body,” Stroup says. “I've done a lot of experiential therapy, self-nurturing work and beyond, to get to a more true place to live from, and a lot of the songs capture the process and pivotal points on that continued journey.”
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