Whitney (band)

American indie rock band

Whitney

Whitney performing at Pitchfork Music Festival in 2016

Background information
Origin| Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres|

* Indie rock
* indie folk
* soft rock
* country soul
* indie pop

Years active| 2015 (2015)–present
Labels| Secretly Canadian
Spinoff of| Smith Westerns
Members|

* Max Kakacek
* Julien Ehrlich
* Josiah Marshall
* Will Miller
* Malcolm Brown
* Print Chouteau
* Charles Glanders
* Ziyad Asrar[1][2]
* Colin Croom

Website| whitneytheband.com

Whitney is an American indie rock band formed in Chicago in 2015.[3][4][5] The band was formed shortly after the breakup of members Max Kakacek and Julien Ehrlich's band Smith Westerns in late 2014.[6] They released their debut album, Light Upon the Lake, in June 2016 and have toured internationally.[7]

## Career

[edit]

After the breakup of Smith Westerns in 2014, guitarist Max Kakacek joined with drummer Julien Ehrlich, who also played drums for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, to form Whitney.[3] As roommates, the duo shared songwriting duties while Ehrlich became the main vocalist. Initially the band also featured members of the Touching Voids, Ehrlich's previous band.[8] In June 2015, the band made the song "No Matter Where We Go" available digitally through the Lead Riders label.[9] It included former Smith Westerns member Ziyad Asrar on rhythm guitar, Malcolm Brown on keyboards, bassist Josiah Marshall and brass player Will Miller.[10]

In 2015, the band played around thirty shows, mostly in support of other artists. This included Tobias Jesso Jr., who got the band in contact with Jonathan Rado, who would produce their debut studio album. In September of that year, they joined Rado at his Los Angeles home studio to record.[10] In January 2016, the band released the single "No Woman" supported by a video and toured Europe in anticipation of their new album.[7] They also performed at the 2016 SXSW festival.[11]

On June 3, 2016, the album Light Upon the Lake was released, and shortly afterwards they embarked on their first headlining European tour.[12]

In 2017, the band announced a new demos album with a previously unreleased song, "You and Me".[13] In March 2017, Whitney released two new songs, "You've Got a Woman" and "Gonna Hurry (As Slow as I Can)". Both are covers.[14] Light Upon the Lake: Demo Recordings was released on November 10, 2017.

In an interview published in April 2019, the band mentioned their second official album, due in 2019, would deal with "fear, confusion, and substance abuse".[15] They shared a song titled "FTA" from the album in June 2019, and released the lead single “Giving Up” on June 6.[16]

The album Forever Turned Around was released on August 30, 2019. It was partially recorded at a winery in Cotati, California.[17] To celebrate the release, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot announced August 30 as Whitney Day.[18]

In May 2020, Whitney and Waxahatchee released covers of both "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Rain".[19] Both tracks appeared on Whitney's album of covers titled Candid, which was released on August 14, 2020, and also included covers of "Strange Overtones" (originally by David Byrne and Brian Eno) and "Hammond Song" (originally by The Roches).[20]

On June 16, 2022, Whitney released their single "Real Love" and announced that their next album Spark would be released on September 16, 2022 on Secretly Canadian. The album features production by John Congleton and Brad Cook.[21] On December 9, 2022, Whitney released the EP Live at Electric Lady, which includes a cover of Beach House's "Other People".[22]

On May 2025, Whitney released a singe titled "Darling".[23]

On July 2025, Whitney announced the release of their fourth album titled Small Talk, set to release on November 7, 2025.[23] They also released a music video for their new single "Dandelions".[23]

## Style

[edit]

Whitney's musical style has been described as indie rock,[24] indie folk,[25] soft rock,[26] country soul[27] and indie pop.[28]

Ehrlich outlined the approach to songwriting as "when we were writing for Whitney, we were doing what we wanted to do, the music was really freeing".[10] Paul Lester in the Guardian described the band as "think Bon Iver, with elements of folk and country, only given a Chicago soul makeover".[3] They cite Levon Helm and Allen Toussaint as inspiration.[10][29]

## Discography

[edit]

### Albums

[edit]

Studio albums

* Light Upon the Lake (2016)
* Forever Turned Around (2019)
* Candid (2020)
* Spark (2022)
* Small Talk (2025) (releases November 7)

EPs

* Live at Electric Lady (2022)

Demo albums

* Light Upon the Lake: Demo Recordings (2017)

### Singles

[edit]

* "No Matter Where We Go" (June 2015)
* "No Woman" (January 2016)
* "You've Got a Woman / Gonna Hurry (As Slow as I Can)" (March 2017)
* "You and Me" (Demo) (September 2017)
* "Giving Up" (June 2019)
* "FTA" (November 2019)
* "Far, Far Away" (November 2019)
* "Rain" (May 2020)
* "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (May 2020)
* "Hammond Song" (July 2020)
* "Strange Overtones" (August 2020)
* "Real Love" (June 2022)
* "Blue / Twirl" (July 2022)
* "Memory / County Lines" (August 2022)
* "For A While" (January 2023)
* "Kansas" (August 2023)
* "Darling" (May 2025)
* "Dandelions" (July 2025)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Homewood, Ben (15 February 2016). First Kisses, Falsettos, and Smith Westerns' Split: Whitney Interviewed, NME
2. ^ "Whitney Announces New Album 'Forever Turned Around' & Shares Single". Jambase.com. June 6, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
3. ^ a b c Lester, Paul (February 12, 2016). "New band of the week: Whitney (No 90)". the Guardian. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
4. ^ Donelson, Marcy. "Whitney | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
5. ^ Deusner, Stephen. Biography, Secretly Canadian
6. ^ "Whitney: Light Upon the Lake Album Review". Pitchfork.com.
7. ^ a b Wilkinson, Matt (January 18, 2016). "New Music Of The Day: Whitney – 'No Woman'". NME.com. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
8. ^ De Martino, Susanna (August 11, 2015). "An Interview With Whitney's Julien Ehrlich". Rare Candy. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
9. ^ Milton, Jamie (June 2, 2015). "Members of Smith Westerns, Touching Voids form Whitney, share 'No Matter Where You Go'". DIY. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
10. ^ a b c d Garaas, Leah (January 18, 2016). "Upstream: Whitney make country feel fresh and cool". The Current from Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
11. ^ Cox, Jamieson (March 18, 2016). "What it's like to be a band on the SXSW grind, as told by Whitney". The Verge. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
12. ^ "On the road with Whitney, your new favourite band". July 28, 2016.
13. ^ "Whitney Announce Demos Album, Share New Song: Listen | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. September 28, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
14. ^ "New Music: Whitney – "You've Got A Woman" (Lion Cover) and "Gonna Hurry (As Slow As I Can)" (Dolly Parton Cover)". Spin. March 27, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
15. ^ Subscribe. "Whitney: "If people liked 'Light Upon The Lake', they are really going to fuck with this"". DIY. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
16. ^ Kim, Michelle (June 4, 2019). "Whitney Share New Song 'FTA': Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
17. ^ "'Get lost,' dress up with Whitney in Sonoma for Halloween". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. October 16, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
18. ^ Bloom, Madison (August 22, 2019). "Chicago Mayor Declares Official Whitney Day". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
19. ^ "Listen to Whitney team up with Waxahatchee for 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' cover". NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News. May 26, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
20. ^ "Whitney tell the stories behind each cover on Candid". The Fader. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
21. ^ Brodsky, Rachel (June 20, 2022). "Whitney – "Real Love"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
22. ^ DeVille, Chris (December 8, 2022). "Whitney – "Other People" (Beach House Cover)". Stereogum. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
23. ^ a b c Rogers, Karlie (July 16, 2025). "Whitney Detail New Album 'Small Talk,' Share "Dandelions"". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
24. ^ Covington, Abigail (September 16, 2022). "Whitney's Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek on Music, "Spark," and What's Next". Esquire. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
25. ^ Bienstock, Hal (May 21, 2017). "Indie-folk band Whitney celebrating its 'Golden Days'". amNewYork. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
26. ^ Garvey, Meaghan (December 2, 2019). "That's So Whitney". Chicago. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
27. ^ Owens, Dylan (July 22, 2016). "Country-soul nostalgists Whitney were born to lose". The Denver Post. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
28. ^ Major, Michael (December 8, 2022). "Spotify Releases Final Live at Electric Lady EP Of The Year Featuring Indie-Pop Band Whitney". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
29. ^ Kakacek, Max; Ehrlich, Julien (June 2, 2016). "Whitney's playlist: Allen Toussaint, the Band and Mulatu Astatke". the Guardian. Retrieved June 4, 2016.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Whitney_(band).

* Official website

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI

Artists|

* MusicBrainz