Angie Goeke has spent countless hours watching true-crime documentaries—to the point where she figures she’s accumulated her fair share of practical knowledge. That slightly unsettling premise informs the tragicomic country noir of “My Next Murder,” the Montana-based singer/songwriter’s latest single.
“It all started with a phrase that came up in conversation: My next murder will be my first,” says Goeke. “I immediately thought it was clever and funny—and that there was probably a song hiding in it somewhere. I love the absurd idea of millions of perfectly innocent women sitting at home, quietly studying every terrible decision ever made in a murder documentary and becoming increasingly prepared for anything. That became the world of the song: part true-crime obsession, part self-preservation, part tongue-in-cheek warning to the creeps of the world.”
Born and raised in Austin, Goeke draws on that city’s rich and a eclectic musical history for a pliable sound that spans Americana, folk, country, bluegrass and jazz—though she’s always been less concerned with genre boundaries than finding an appropriate setting for her narratives. Following her 2019 debut EP, Knots, and the full-length 2022 debut If I Were Honest, Goeke continues to perform, write and mentor other musicians while hosting the Workshop, an intimate listening room and creative hub in her Billings home. Often, you’ll find her with a ukelele in her hands.
As for my “My Next Murder,” it represents a mischievous side of her songwriting she’s become more comfortable embracing of late.
“I’ve written plenty of sad and heavy songs, and I’m glad I’m at a point in my career where I don’t feel like every song has to live there,” she says. “Not everything has to be serious. Sometimes humor is exactly the right way to say something real.”
We’re proud to premiere Angie Goeke’s “My Next Murder.”
—Hobart Rowland
See Angie Goeke live.
