August Ponthier: Everywhere Isn't Texas

"They've said the songs on Everywhere Isn't Texas, which they wrote over a period of years, contain "Scooby-Doo-level clues" about their shifting understanding of their identity, and the album bears this out in its soft-pop portrait of an artist in transition."

"In the first few tracks, there's a song about mourning girlhood ("Ribbons & Taxes") next to a confessional about gender envy ("Handsome"), a fascinating tension. Beneath the knowingly ironic girl-group production and clever rhyme scheme of the latter, the song is despairing: "Painted nails on gentle males/A winning combination/It's painful and it's shameful/I'm a poor imitation.""

"A pair of songs on the back half, "Angry Man" and "Bloodline," are thornier, exploring Ponthier's struggle with deeper, more complex aspects of their identity and artistic expression."

August Ponthier, a Texas-born Brooklyn-based songwriter, gained viral attention through humorous TikToks before signing to Interscope Records. Their debut album, Everywhere Isn't Texas, was completed as Ponthier came out as non-binary in October 2025. The album blends lighthearted country-folk with pop sensibilities, featuring songs that subtly document their identity journey. Early tracks juxtapose mourning girlhood with expressions of gender envy, while later songs like "Angry Man" and "Bloodline" explore deeper struggles. Though the album prioritizes accessibility, Ponthier's unconventional artistic impulses occasionally emerge, creating a promising but cautious debut that balances vulnerability with commercial appeal.

Read at Pitchfork