Chicago folk-rock band Whitney have kept busy after their 2022 album SPARK, releasing “For a While”—a live staple written around the time their debut album, Light Upon the Lake was made—earlier this spring. Now, they’re tapping into the vault from their 2019 album Forever Turned Around with “Kansas.” The song’s instrumental combines patterns from two already released songs: “Used To Be Lonely” and “FTA.” “Tunnel vision suddenly swaying, oh baby,” vocalist Julien Ehrlich sings. “And the feeling comes and goes, like the wind blows over my shoulders.” It’s a lovely, serene slice of finger-picked guitar and heavenly, atmospheric undertones, as Ehrlich’s falsetto floats gently above it all.
Though “Kansas” never made it onto the final cut of Forever Turned Around, Ehrlich and guitarist Max Kakacek put the track into some of their 2022 tour sets—and the audience response quickly turned it into a show centerpiece. In the same light as “For a While,” the duo opted to record it—this time, as the song was initially supposed to be presented four years ago.
Watch the lyric video for “Kansas” below.