New Music: Avery Friedman – Biking Standing

Avery Friedman’s New Thing album is something truly special, heralding a new voice in music, and a snapshot of a musical vision we’re certain to hear more of in the future.

I’ve previously described the title track as feeling autumnal and featured track Finger Painting as having an air of springtime newness, but Biking Standing has the stifling stillness of summer about it.

July and speckles of Americana centre the song’s imagery and anchor its emotional turmoil. You can almost smell the tarmac and feel the tension laid out in Finger Painting, its fusion of lo-fi sounds and folkish fervour electrifies the relationship that ladens the track with meaning – much of which is left to the listener to decipher.

“New Thing is a conduit for emotions too frenetic to hold on your own. This record is a collection of the first songs I’ve ever written, after many years of orbiting the music world but denying myself my own musicianship,” Friedman has revealed.

She adds, “Many of these tracks were born of anxiety – from my turning to a guitar to externalize (and organize) a sense of chaos that otherwise felt trapped inside me.”

New Thing is out now via Audio Antihero to stream on SoundCloud, YouTube Music and Spotify and is available in cassette, digital, and clear sky-blue vinyl formats on Bandcamp.

For artist news, details of the official release party for New Thing, and other listening options for the LP, check out Avery Friedman’s Instagram, TikTok, BlueSky, and Facebook socials.