Drew Kennedy, ‘Cream and Sugar’ [Exclusive Premiere]

Americana artist Drew Kennedy is preparing to release new music on Nov. 3, and he's giving The Boot's readers an advance listen to one of the tracks. Press play below to hear Kennedy's new song "Cream and Sugar."

The moody, piano-driven "Cream and Sugar" was written by Kennedy and Davis Naish. According to Kennedy, Naish saved the title idea specifically for him, and wanted to have those words in the final line of the song's chorus, to "really nail it home." The track became the story of its narrator talking himself into an imminent blind date.

"We've all been in a situation like that, I think," Kennedy tells The Boot, "when very near future contains so much uncertainty and you kind of have to pump yourself up a bit to face it with confidence."

The toughest part of the writing process, however, involved that request from Naish: "We got to the last two lines of the chorus, and we were really excited about how it was going so far ... two lines to go until we've finished it," Kennedy recalls, "and based on our rhyme scheme, we're looking to set up the word ‘sugar' with a word that rhymes with it ... a word that rhymes with sugar ... that we can say in a song.

"Yeah ... It took us a couple of hours to solve that problem," he adds.

"Cream and Sugar" will appear on Kennedy's upcoming eighth album, At Home in the Big Lonesome, which is set for release on Nov. 3. Produced by Dave Brainard, the record highlights Kennedy's character-driven songwriting and features lush and dramatic pianos, strings and percussion. The project is available for pre-order.

Listen to Drew Kennedy, "Cream and Sugar":

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