Los Angeles by-way-of Seattle band Tangerine take us track-by-track through their debut album ‘You’re Still the Only One,’ a dreamy, dramatic, and achingly raw indie pop record dwelling in the unfiltered depths of human connection and experience.
Stream: “Timeless” – Tangerine
We can’t outrun the night, so we learn to love darkness…
Intimate and energetic, playful and poignant, Tangerine’s debut album is a cinematic slice of life.
And like life itself, there’s a lot to unpack and even more to uncover – but it’s the journey, not the destination, that ultimately matters most. The duo take on the world (as they’ve come to know it) one song, one memory, one moment at a time on You’re Still the Only One, a dreamy, dramatic, and achingly raw indie pop record dwelling in the unfiltered depths of human connection and experience.
You know this time
You know this place
Been here before
You memorized my face
All this time, you can’t deny it
I’m your honey
Yeah that’s timeless
Again and again, I’ll be your friend
Again and again
We can’t out run the night
So we learn to love darkness
Running out of time
But that’s not our problem
No, no no we’re timeless you and I
Fire on the mountain, slow descent
Again and again
Again and again, I’ll be your friend
– “Timeless,” Tangerine
Independently released October 25th, 2024, You’re Still the One is a seductive and spellbinding mission statement from one of LA’s most exciting indie pop outfits. Originally hailing from Seattle and active in one form or another since 2013, Tangerine have long sought to marry vulnerable and meaningful lyricism with enchanting melodies and wondrous, enveloping soundscapes. Their extensive back-catalog is well worth the deep dive (2018’s “Cherry Red” off their White Dove EP is a personal favorite), but it was when they “returned” this August after a three-year hiatus that their status as a definitive artist-to-watch was crystallized.
The duo of Marika Justad (vocals, guitar) and Toby Kuhn (guitar, production) describe their debut album as both “a journey towards letting go in order to embrace a full spectrum of love, sorrow, pleasure, and pain” and “a journey towards acceptance of the instability in the world, in order to find peace.” Those ideas manifest through sweet, soul-stirring songs that ache inside and out; whose choruses are as catchy as they are cathartic, and whose lyrics exist at the crossroads of the existential and the experiential, the bittersweet and the beautiful.
When I was younger it was do or die
Ran myself ragged and you know
I never cry, cry cried
Can’t get honey from a stone I was never satisfied
And everything was black and white
Now I don’t wanna think about back then
When I was drowning in the currents
and the riverbends
Between myself and destruction was a line
A line so thin, cut like a knife
This world is more tender than you think
The proof is in the sunset gold and pink
And all these winding roads where do they lead
I could figure it out
Or let it unfold like a dream
(everything like a dream,
more tender than you think)
– “Dreamworld,” Tangerine
“In 2019, we took an abrupt hiatus after my dad died,” Marika Justad tells Atwood Magazine. “My sister Miró, our longtime drummer, left the band to finish her degree, and our bass player at the time, Seth, ended up moving to Indiana. We questioned if Tangerine was going to even continue. Ultimately, the songs brought us back together; Toby and I wrote and recorded everything in our home studio in Northeast LA, and Miró joined the project as a visual creative director, directing three music videos and staging photo shoots.”
“Because we were forced to stop and reevaluate, this album feels very pure to me. The industry can really drain you, and you find that your energy gets redirected away from your music to things like marketing, industry drama, stress. For this project, we decided to let ourselves have zero expectations, zero hang-ups, and really just create something that brings us joy, and that we hope brings other people joy, too.”
I used to feel numb now it’s starting to hurt
Somebody must have left that window open
I don’t listen to music, I live in silence
Somebody forgot to turn down the violence
It’s oh-open
When it should stay closed
Push and pull
I can feel the notion forming
In between our heartbeats
Don’t wanna cry no more
And when we’re kissin’ I forget my
mission to be lonely
And I could and I could and I could
And I do and I do and I do
One more time
When we’re kissing wind comes whistlin’
Right into my bedroom
– “Push and Pull,” Tangerine
It may feel a touch funny to be releasing a “debut album” a full decade into their career, but as Justad explains, this record’s timing couldn’t feel more natural – the timing was finally right.
“For a long time, we pretty much toured and released EPs as a way of life,” she explains. “I think we finally just had enough space and quiet after our hiatus to sit down and write a full record. Art is a reflection of life, and for me, it turns out I have to pause, breathe, and just actually live my life, in order to create things that feel meaningful to me. So although it feels a little funny to announce our ‘debut album’ after all these years, it also feels right on time.”
“The vision for this album was to let go of anxiety and just have fun,” she adds. “It’s a collaborative effort between Toby and myself, and there’s a strong push and pull between us that I think is reflected in the album. It’s not the product of one person with an overarching vision, it’s more like a conversation. The more indie, folk-y songs were spearheaded by me, and the poppier, more electronic ones were generally spearheaded by Toby. Ultimately, I think people who have been fans of ours since the beginning will find the classic Tangerine elements that have always been there, even if they’ve evolved and shifted; sparkly guitars, jangly indie energy, poppy melodies, a bittersweet lyricism.”
“Tangerine has always been a group that was bubbling over with references; musical, literary, cinematic. Jane Eyre, ‘Lost Boys,’ ‘Field of Dreams,’ Celtic mythology, all have been worked into lyrics or videos,” For our “The Coldest Winter” music video, Miró was directly inspired by a book of photos by Dorothea Lange. I guess what I’m trying to say is that EPs can only showcase so much. To me, this album really shows the full spectrum of what we do; there are aspects of synth pop, Americana/folk, beachy indie rock, and more.”
Justad candidly describes You’re Still the Only One as expansive, ethereal, bittersweet.
The title is lifted from the album’s third track, and speaks to broader themes in the band’s music and in their lives.
“The ‘you’ could mean us, our musical family, or it could be the listeners who have stayed with us despite us dropping off the face of the earth for a while there,” she smiles. “We thought it was the perfect title for the record because it represents a love that has endured; after all this time, you’re still here, you’re still the one.”
Highlights abound on the journey from “Timeless” to “The Stepping Stones” as Tangerine spill the hearts and souls eleven times over. As enchanting as it is invigorating, album opener “Timeless” sets the scene as a visceral, emotionally charged song of connection and yearning, intimacy and countless words unsaid. It’s a particularly dreamy moment of self-expression from the band, harnessing both their pop and rock roots to great effect while putting Justad’s vulnerable writing at the forefront.
The band themselves have a particular soft spot for “Lonely Ride” and “Over the Fence.”
“‘Over the Fence’ was especially fun to create and one of the more unique sounding songs on the record,” Toby Kuhn says. “The bass synth drop in the second verse of ‘Arizona’ coupled with the vocal sample is maybe my single favorite moment on the album.”
Meanwhile, the band cite lyrics from the song “Big Country” as “really invoking the album’s core”:
Wildflower blood tide, endless rhythm you know
I once feared what would be required.
Give the earth what she needs
tender pomegranate bleeds
Scrape away the fruit seeds
When there was nothing left to save,
I let the seasons have their way
I knew I would be okay
And everything would be ok
cause I’m still alive and I’m still hungry
Yeah I still see the romance in Big Country.
– “Big Country,” Tangerine
Ultimately, You’re Still the Only One serves as a musical time capsule navigating life’s highs and lows, ebbs and flows.
Ten years into their career, Tangerine’s first full-length effort brings their humanity into the spotlight as they process the world through song, inviting audiences to join them on a journey of earnest reflection and intimate inner reckoning. We may not always (or ever!) know what life has in store for us, but we can take plenty of comfort in knowing we’re not alone in our emotions or experiences – and that we’re so much more than the sum of our parts.
As Justad so emphatically sings on “Big Country,” “I’m still alive and I’m still hungry.”
“This album is about coming to terms with the fullness of life; the good, the bad, the ugly,” Justad shares. “There’s a lot of pain in there, but a lot of joy too. These days, we all have other creative avenues in addition to Tangerine, and I think that really helped us see Tangerine more clearly. In some ways, it’s that same sparkly indie with a bittersweet core that we’ve been making since 2012, but a little older, a little wiser. And I hope it makes people feel something.”
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Tangerine’s You’re Still the Only One with Atwood Magazine as Marika Justad and Toby Kuhn take us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of their debut album!
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:: stream/purchase You’re Still the Only One here ::
:: connect with Tangerine here ::
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Stream: ‘You’re Still the Only One’ – Tangerine
:: Inside You’re Still the Only One ::
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Timeless
As soon as we wrote this, I knew I wanted it to be track 1 on the album. It has this gentle, expansive feeling that always makes me think of driving down the highway in the Southwest. I picture the sun setting on the San Gabriel mountains. The lyrics set the tone for the album: “I wanna leave me at your mercy / fire on the mountain slow descent / I wanna leave me in the crosshairs / of a world so sweet and violent.” TANGERINE—both the band, and the people in it—we’ve been through a lot. This song is about making the choice to stay fully present and alive, to not shrink away from a world that can feel scary and destabilizing.
Avalon
I picture this one playing during a motivational sports montage in a movie, only it’s a very, very weird movie. Like imagine characters from LOTR or a David Lynch movie playing basketball. This song touches on some ancestral themes and invokes my parents, both of whom have passed away. Bob Dylan makes me feel connected to them, hence the line about my mom wearing an “Egyptian ring.”
You’re Still the Only One
I wrote this song almost in one sitting. It’s one of those songs that just feels like a little gift. You sit down and it starts pouring out. It’s probably the happiest song on the album.
Over The Fence
We had so much fun making this one. It’s less indie feeling, more of a lush pop landscape. Everything is anchored by this insane bass line Toby wrote. I kept imagining Field of Dreams, the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, while we were writing it, which is how we ended up sampling audio of an old baseball broadcast in the beginning.
Arizona
I wrote this song when I was feeling deeply shaken by changes and instability in my life. From a place of fear and sorrow, I started recalling family road trips we used to take to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah. The exposed landscape out there struck me as very eternal feeling when I was a small child, and I found it oddly comforting. This song is about searching for that feeling.
Lonely Ride
This song is about learning how to let go of and walk away from a good thing, not because it’s bad but simply because it’s time. A job, a relationship, a way of life. It’s about realizing you’ll be ok someday, even if right now you’re not. I’m cheesy, so I like to picture it playing at the end of a consequential episode in some teen drama like The OC, maybe with the main character blazing a trail out of town in their beat up old car.
Push and Pull
This song felt like new territory for us. It’s wistful and bittersweet but there’s a dance-y, almost club-y, rhythm to it. We used Toby’s nylon string Spanish guitar that he’s had since he was 13 to bring it down to earth and anchor it with this soft organic feeling. I’d put it on a playlist with “sad bangers” maybe, like Lykke Li’s “so sad so sexy” or Robyn’s “With Every Heartbeat.”
Big Country
Emotionally, this song really calls back to the themes of the first track, “Timeless.” It’s about still seeing the “beauty and romance” in a world that can feel so heavy. It’s also about making peace with the physicality of the world: the blood, the guts, the things that remind us we are human, anchored to our bodies, for better or worse. “Give the earth what she needs / tender pomegranate bleeds / scrape away the fruit seeds.” Visually, I picture the wide open spaces of the American West, a recurring theme on this album.
Dreamworld
Probably the poppiest song we’ve ever made. Oh, we struggled and argued over this one, haha. The production, the vibe, it just felt new and strange to me. I worried it was “too different” from the other songs. Ultimately, the bridge made me fall in love with it, with its lush layers of harmonies that have almost a Southern gothic feeling. We’re huge nerds, and as we added the finishing production touches, Toby and I kept picturing a hovercraft in some futuristic city driving into a pink sunset.
Thieves
This is another song that felt like it just poured out of me fully written. It quotes Blues Run the Game by Jackson C. Frank and it calls back to the “big country” of track 8, but this time it’s about feeling lost in the immensity of it all. It’s a very personal song for me, about navigating a really difficult relationship.
The Stepping Stones
We always knew this would be the last song on the album. The sparkly, bittersweet, ’90s influenced guitars just feel like the perfect note to end on. It’s a love song to someone who has gone to hell and back with you and never left your side. I love a movie reference, so I always picture it being at home in the Empire Records soundtrack. Fade to black, roll credits <3
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