For all intents and purposes, Arlie began as a SoundCloud link of 10 demos Nathanial Banks made in his dorm room at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. Two of those, “Big Fat Mouth” and “Didya Think,” found enough traction on Spotify to precipitate a deal with Atlantic. That led to appearances at Bonnaroo, Shaky Knees, Forecastle and Austin City Limits. There was an EP in 2018, and an actual band materialized for opening slots with Cold War Kids, Mt. Joy and others. By the time Arlie’s proper debut was released in 2022, Banks was one unhappy camper.
Now three years removed from the industry shapeshifters and all the wiser, Banks has bigger fish to fry. Available tomorrow, Someone You Can Believe In (SoundOn) signals a return to the self-made, laptop-derived alt-pop of that got him that major-label deal in the first place. Only this time, it comes in the form of a concept album structured like a radio drama with actual chapters.
Banks recorded “Is It Okay If I Love You” with a newly acquired MacBook a year after his old one vanished under suspicious circumstances. He sketched out a partial melody and chords, singing to his “faraway love” over iMessage voice notes, one verse at a time.
“The tech break was a blessing in many ways,” says Banks. “I was playing guitar and keyboards more and writing lyrics by hand in the absence of Logic Pro and the iCloud-synchronized notes app.”
Once he was “back in the arms of my beloved recording software,” Banks didn’t have any of his third-party plugins. “I was more limited than I was used to, but I was eager to record,” he says. “And I also had the looming deadline of my distant lover’s birthday.”
With “Happy Birthday” as its working title, the track was written, produced and mixed in two days, just in time to serve its purpose.
“She said it was the sweetest gift anyone has ever given her—then she proceeded to drift further and further until she was out of my life,” says Arlie. “But at least this piece of music exists now. Besides, if you examine the lyrics, I got exactly what I asked for.”
We’re proud to premiere Arlie’s “Is It Okay If I Love You.”
—Hobart Rowland
