NASHVILLE-BASED BANTUG SHARES NEW SINGLE “SHAPES”

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SOPHOMORE EP RED

DUE OUT MAY 25TH

“...expertly crafted pop.” - The Line of Best Fit

“Bare and exposed vocals on the verses of ‘Shapes’ make the thick swirling harmonies on the choruses pop even more, creating an anti-pop anthem that begs to be featured on an independent film… [her voice] soars over the 80s-esque dreamy tracks she creates.”

- Ones to Watch

Photo Credit: Kelsey Cherry

Bantug, the brainchild of musician (and woodworking apprentice, seriously) Amanda Bantug, is thrilled to share her new single, “Shapes,” premiering today on Ones to Watch. “Amanda Bantug is a Nashville native with an affinity for equating colors with human emotion,” Ones to Watch write, going on to praise her “voice that soars over the 80s-esque dreamy tracks she creates” and “expertly-crafted lyrics,” which come together to create “an anti-pop anthem that begs to be featured on an independent film.” The Nashville-based indie pop artist has the following to share on the song’s meaning:

“This is a really personal one. It’s about how some people just dive into their relationships and forget about the people that have been in their life. I don’t think it’s anyone’s intention to

forget a good friend, but when you enter into a relationship, you start to see changes within yourself, and these are the ‘shapes’ I’m referring to.”

“Shapes” follows lead single “Our Apartment,” a fiery, emotive track that No Country For New Nashville singled out for its masterful use of “woozy synths [that] compliment snappy beats, mirroring a heady love-swoon followed by bursts of passion,” going on to proclaim the song “a stellar example of how effortlessly she adds a subtle touch when melding indie rock, R&B, and pop sounds.” Both singles are lifted off Bantug’s forthcoming sophomore EP, Red, due out Friday, May 25th via independent release. Last week, Bantug took Red out on the road, opening for close friend and fellow Nashville-based artist, Liza Anne; the run kicked off with a sold-out show at Third Man Records’ Nashville outpost.

“Shapes” will be available on all DSPs this coming Wednesday, May 2nd. Stay tuned for further announcements regarding Bantug’s Red EP.

Stream “Shapes” via Ones to Watch or SoundCloud

Stream “Our Apartment” via No Country For New Nashville or SoundCloud

“Is our humanity damned? / How did it get this way? / The fact of being a woman makes me feel unsafe and I want out,” Nashville-based musician Amanda Bantug sings about halfway through her new EP, Red, stringing the words together in a way that seems impossibly catchy, given the weight of their subject matter. Bantug’s ability to distill such profound messages and pair them with soaring, dream-pop melodies is a cornerstone of what makes her writing so fresh and exciting. And it’s something you can find all over the six stunning cuts she chose for Red.

Born and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Bantug was drawn to music instantly, stealing time on her older brother’s drum kit at age four, learning guitar by age eight, picking up double bass as a preteen. Through pivoting to focus on songwriting in high school, she eventually ended up in Nashville, where she found her own musical community and began to allow herself the creative freedom and confidence to write and release songs under the Bantug moniker.

Her debut EP, Blue, was released in the spring of 2017 to local and national acclaim, topping Nashville Scene’s year-end list of favorite local EPs and being lauded as “expertly crafted pop” by The Line of Best Fit. The EP has since racked up over 600,000 plays on Spotify and SoundCloud combined, a feat for any independent artist, and has led Bantug to score coveted opening slots on shows with Liza Anne, Hovvdy, Men I Trust, and Daniella Mason, to name a few.

Red takes up where Blue left off and runs with it. Lead single “Our Apartment” was the first song written for the collection, a sweetly sexy ode to the anticipation one feels waiting for their partner to come home. “Do You See Me” can be seen as a sister song to one of Blue’s standout tracks, “Wine Beeline,” both of which explore the twisted convergence of parties and alcohol and small talk by bringing them to a boiling point.

Ruminating on themes of intimacy, paranoia, loneliness, and frustration, each word and each note of Red work together to reflect a different shade of the color itself, at times fiery and jarring, at other times romantic and ethereal. By choosing to co-produce with fellow Nashville-based musician Grayson Proctor, and by tracking most of the instruments in her own bedroom, Bantug ensured that Red would land as a fully-realized and handcrafted artistic statement. Spoiler alert: it really does.

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