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Apr 01, 2024 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Jillian Clark

Raleigh-based singer/songwriter Stuart McLamb spent the 2010s crafting widescale and cinematic indie pop with his band The Love Language, returning most recently with their 2018 album, Baby Grand. Today, McLamb is back with news of his latest outfit, Fancy Gap, a collaboration with songwriter and producer Charles Crossingham, named after the small Virginia locale where the pair wrote the bulk of their forthcoming album. The record was originally intended as a new Love Language album, but McLamb and Crossingham quickly saw it evolving in a different direction, echoing artists like Wilco, Fleet Foxes, or Sheryl Crow.

Today, the band is sharing their first taste of that new direction with their single, “How To Dance,” along with an accompanying video, premiering with Under the Radar.

“How to Dance” plays like rediscovering a treasure trove of well-worn CD classics, with the band leaning into a host of classic rock and pop influences and shading them in hints of country guitar twang. McLamb and Crossingham weave together breezy guitar lines and a heartfelt vocal performance, leaving the track dosed in plaintive and sunlit charm. Meanwhile, the song also features Rami Jafee (Foo Fighters, The Wallflowers) on organ and Wurlitzer, and Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, The Mountain Goats, Etta James) on guitar, the latter of which closes out the track with a showstopping guitar solo.

McLamb says of the track, “‘How To Dance’ was one of the first songs Charles and I wrote together. We sat down and mapped out about 90% of it in about 30 minutes—lyrics, arrangement, and all. The vocal, guitars, and bass were all pretty much first takes. Charles helped finesse the arrangement and had the great idea to get Rami and Will for the track, who really made the whole thing feel alive,” explains McLamb. “A lot of people ask, ‘how did you get a Foo Fighter on your track??’ Legend has it that Charles worked at a guitar shop many years ago and Rami came in while on tour with the Wallflowers. Charles ended up jamming with him, and told him ‘there will be a day where I have a record worthy of you playing on it and I’m gonna hit you up.’ Sure enough, Rami kept his word. We like to joke that he’s in the band and he graciously plays along. We connected with Will while down in Muscle Shoals finishing the song with Craig Alvin. No exaggeration, his outro is one of our favorite guitar solos of all time.”

Check out the song and animated visualizer below. “How To Dance” is out now via Ghost Choir Records. The band are also making their live debut on April 6th at The Sandspur in Carolina Beach, NC, followed by a pair of shows next month opening for Futurebirds and Dent May. Check out the band’s live dates below.

Live Dates:

04/06 - Carolina Beach, NC @ The Sandspur

05/01 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle*

05/07 - Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House^

* supporting Futurebirds

^ supporting Dent May