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Feb 25, 2025 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Steph Stewart

Blue Cactus is the Chapel Hill, NC-based indie folk project of songwriters Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez. After introducing the duo’s style of folk, alt-country, and psych rock with their 2017 self-titled album and 2021 follow-up, Stranger Again, the pair are set to return this year with their third full-length album, Believer. The record came together in the two years following Stranger Again, taking shape as the pair navigated chronic health issues and the slow recovery after COVID. Stewart would gradually stumble upon a hummed vocal melody or a memorable phrase as Arnez layered dusty folk textures into sprawling sun-lit instrumentals, with Stewart acting as Blue Cactus’ sole lead singer for the first time.

The pair shared their first single, “This Kind of Rain,” last month, and today they’re back with another new track, “Resolution,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Resolution” finds Stewart ambling down a dreamy and charming folk soundscape, with her vocals lilting above Arnez’s feathery finger-picked guitar. Hints of keys, pedal steel, and percussion dance in the background, bringing the track a homespun, golden-hued warmth. It is also one of several tracks on the record highlighting Blue Cactus’ collaborators. Fellow indie singer/songwriter Erin Rae joins on backing harmonies, offering a plaintive accompaniment to Stewart’s gently crooned confessions as their vocals blend effortlessly into a swirl of spacious songcraft.

Stewart says of the track, “It was New Year’s Eve, and I was doing the dishes after breakfast thinking about all the ways I was going to be a totally new and better person overnight—pretty much the same thing I’d done every New Year’s Eve for as long as I can remember. Only this time it was different. This time, as I watched the suds spiraling down the drain, a melody started to creep into my head. And then a voice. And the voice told me I just needed to work on being a better listener. It was the only resolution I wrote down that year, and I suspect I’ll be working on that one for the rest of my life.”

Check out the song below. Believer is out everywhere on April 25th via Sleepy Cat Records. You can also find the band’s upcoming tour dates below

Tour Dates

Mar 1 | Richmond, VA @ The Camel w/ Deau Eyes + Nan Macmillan

Mar 14 | Austin, TX @ Stephen F’s Bar | Official SXSW Showcase

Mar 15 | Austin, TX @ The Long Time w/ Hayden Pedigo

Mar 28 | Harrisonburg, VA @ Pale Fire Brewing

Mar 29 | Roanoke, VA @ The Spot on Kirk w/ Amelia Empson

Apr 18 | Monkton, MD @ The Loft at Manor Mill

Apr 19 | Phoenicia, NY @ Phoenicia Playhouse

May 2 | Mooresville, NC @ 185 on Main
May 3 | Carrboro, NC @ The Cat’s Cradle Back Room

May 9 | Nashville, TN @ Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge w/ Miss Tess

May 16 | Charlotte, NC @ Petra’s w/ Carolina Down Boys

May 17 | Wilmington, NC @ Live at Ted’s