Runaway June knew their current radio single, “New Kind of Emotion,” was enchanted as soon as they wrote it. Trio members Jennifer Wayne, Natalie Stovall, and Stevie Woodward co-wrote the up-tempo love song with Paul Sikes. The women were captivated and couldn’t stop listening to the demo. And that was a first.
“We were texting each other like, ‘Are you listening to it on repeat? I’m listening to it on repeat. My family is listening to it on repeat,’” Stovall said. “That was a nice indicator.”
Runaway June teamed with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush, who also produces Megan Moroney, to bring the song to life in the recording studio. As Bush did with Moroney, he helped the trio home in on their new sound naturally.
“I always love what happens when harmony singers sing together at the same time,” said Bush, who is nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award this week for producing Moroney’s Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine). “When it came time to sing the song, I insisted that they all three sing at the same time, every take. I can hear them all breathe together, and it is another layer of authenticity that these three bring.”
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Kristian Bush Asked Runaway June to Sing at the Same Time in the Studio
Wayne is a founding member of Runaway June, which released its first single nine years ago. Stovall joined in 2020, and Woodward stepped in in 2022. The trio’s sound started to evolve with Stovall in 2020 and remained in motion until they heard the Bush-produced “New Kind of Emotion.”
“This is what we want to strive to sound like,” Woodward said. “It wasn’t even intentional.
It was just like, ‘Okay, this is Runaway June’s sound. I think ‘New Kind of Emotion’ is really special for that reason.”
When they got to work in the recording studio, Bush loved how easily the sonic pieces came together, and the song rolled by.
“I was curious to find out what would happen if ‘New Kind of Emotion’ made it into the hands of live musicians,” he said. “As soon as we started to record, the whole song had a magic floating quality to it.”
Lyrics include: And we got this crazy cool connection/ Little bit obsession/ And I’m high on knowin/ A new kind of emotion/ This is what a love song feels like
Stevie Woodward: “This is What We Want to Strive to Sound Like”
The lyrics extoll the thrill of love but don’t specify if it’s romantic love, new love, the affection a parent has for their child, or something else. Each Runaway June member is in a different place with love. Stovall has been married for years, but she and her husband still act like newlyweds. Wayne is a new mom. And Woodward is engaged.
“It represents different phases in life and has different layers of why it’s special to us,” Woodward said.
It’s also the song radio programmers asked for by name – a strong indication they plan to play it. The record label had chosen another song to release. But when the demand for a “New Kind of Emotion” got so loud, they changed their minds, which rarely happens.
“We probably had nine program directors say, ‘They’re all great, but “New Kind of Emotion” is your song,’” Wayne said. “That’s the one that you would wake up and want to hear over and over again. We felt like when we wrote it. When (the label) switched the song, we were like, ‘This is just meant to be.’”
Previously, the women were afraid the song had been lost in the shuffle. The fact the label resurrected it on-demand a year later makes it feel like it was “meant to be,” they said.
“There’s a lot of days as a songwriter you go into a room and it’s like you’re banging your head against the wall,” Woodward said. “That’s just part of the creative process because you’re not always going to feel inspired.
But the day we wrote ‘New Kind of Emotion,’ we were all inspired. The stars aligned perfectly for it to happen.”
Photo by Taylor Kelly
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