Allison Ponthier – «Cowboy»

From bible belt to Brooklyn: singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier releases debut single «Cowboy».

The 25-year-old singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier has released her debut single, «Cowboy».

«Cowboy» is both a touching homage to her Texan roots and a bold coming out statement that finds the Brooklynite telling her story only the way she can.

«Cowboy» is accompanied by a bold, statement-making video that perfectly pairs with the new artist’s visually evocative lyricism. «I mostly just try to make music that speaks to me», she says, «because I know there’s no way I’m the only person in the world who’s felt like this».

«Saw the cutters through barbed wire / I didn’t know I could come out», Ponthier sings over gauzy guitar tones, referencing the journey from Texas to New York that it took for her to accept her own sexuality. «Cowboy» ushers new listeners into a fully realised world of sound and sight, a place where difference is endlessly celebrated through melodies and harmonies that are both familiar and new all at once. Written entirely by Ponthier, the song is co-produced by Sam O.B., Michael Freesh, Otis English, and Brandon Shoop.

Directed by the visionary Jordan Bahat (responsible for Christine and the Queens’ «Girlfriend»), the «Cowboy» video finds Allison rambling through field and forest as the stars twinkle behind her and UFOs circle above her. It’s equal parts aesthetically high camp and emotionally warm, with the singer paying tribute to her Bible Belt roots and fascination with eccentrics like Elvira and Vincent Price in both her red-carpet ready styling and winking visual references (including a horse in a skeleton onesie and a dancing carton of smokes). «Cowboy» is, in every sense, the B-movie homage of your wildest dreams. «I probably watch movies more than I listen to music», she says of the video. «That’s why all my songs are stories».

The first release from Ponthier’s forthcoming debut EP, «Cowboy» echoes Ponthier’s main mission as an artist: «A lot of my songs are about being uncomfortable in your own skin but getting to know yourself better, figuring out who you really are».

Photo by Lissyelle Laricchia