Katy Kirby Considers the Pitfalls of Romantic Commitment on “Hand to Hand”

Texas-born, New York-based singer-songwriter Katy Kirby has shared a fourth (and likely final) single ahead of her forthcoming album Blue Raspberry, coming Jan. 26 on her new label, ANTI- Records.

After breaking out with her irresistible 2021 debut Cool Dry Place, Kirby now returns with a second effort press notes call “an exegesis of [her] first queer relationship” that “ traces the crescendo and collapse of new love, savoring each gleaming shard of rock candy and broken glass along the way.” Alongside producers Alberto Sewald and Logan Chung, Kirby took cues from the likes of Andy Shauf’s The Party and Lomelda’s Hannah, with orchestral arrangements from her friend Rowen Merrill aiding her in making unabashedly beautiful songs about love, longing and the kinds of artifice that reveal who we really are.

Taken with its music video, “Hand to Hand” seems to consider the doomed optimism of marriage — the way romance’s rosy distortion and pragmatic business decisions are made to coexist. Over muted guitar and keys and sparse percussion, Kirby coos, “A starry eyed cooperative / (Or it’s nearly equivalent) / With no discernible logic / We’ll circle the lake and we’ll strike up a bargain.” Based on a concept from Lane Rodges, the homemade “Hand to Hand” video is “framed around a wedding makeup tutorial when the theme of your wedding is ‘making a bad decision,’” according to Kirby. The clip finds a wedding-ready Kirby assessing herself in a bathroom mirror, as if undecided on who she is or wants to become.

“I wrote this at a moment I was witnessing the gory breakdown of several relationships/couples all at the same time,” Kirby explains of the song in a statement. “I don’t really want to invoke the word ‘heteropessimism’ here, but I guess it’s about something like it, or just about commitment in general. It all seems like such an incredibly risky idea? I’m feeling less dark about it these days but I also fell in love with someone recently, so have tried to think about it less.”

“Hand to Hand” follows three previous Blue Raspberry singles, August’s “Cubic Zirconia,” October’s “Table” and November’s “Party of the Century.” Shortly after the record’s Jan. 26 release, Kirby heads out on a U.S. tour, starting in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3 and traversing the country before wrapping up the run at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on March 8.

You can watch the “Hand to Hand” video above, stream the track via your platform of choice here, preorder Blue Raspberry right here and see Kirby’s complete tour itinerary down below.

Katy Kirby Tour Dates:

Feb 3 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd #

Feb 4 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle – Back Room #

Feb 5 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy #

Feb 7 – Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room at Third Man Records #

Feb 8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Purgatory #

Feb 9 – Jackson, MS @ Hal & Mal’s #

Feb 11 – Dallas, TX @ Sons of Hermann Hall #

Feb 13 – Austin, TX @ The Ballroom #

Feb 15 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress #

Feb 16 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room #

Feb 17 – West Hollywood, CA @ The Roxy Theatre #