Ali Awan is restless to escape from humdrum days in a hazy new song, “Cherry Pits”

Philly rocker Ali Awan captures a very specific sort of restlessness when he sings “Waking up in the afternoon always feels too soon if you’ve had too much.” It feels like a very 2020 sentiment on a number of levels — we’re not going anywhere, so why do we need to rush? But also: we’re sick of not going anywhere, can we please hurry the hell on to the next thing?

The lyric comes from “Cherry Pits,” a breezy new single from Awan that sways in tones of bright psychedelia while relinquishing the gripping hooks and raw power of his previous offerings. In other words, it’s more Yo La Tengo and less King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and it shows Awan developing his already established range even further.

Over email, Awan tells us “Cherry Pits” was written in his van, Pickle, “over a series of blurry mornings in various locations around Philly.” He thought a lot about the last 5 or 6 years of his life, and was “attempting to defeat his COVID-induced agoraphobia in a safe setting” when the words and melody just came to him.

As Awan says:

Wanting to leave home but feeling a responsibility to stay home is something I think any critical thinker is dealing with these days, and this song is me playing tennis with that feeling. To me it’s a song about reflecting on the past without being nostalgic, and hoping the lessons learned through tough times (if any) actually stick.

Listen to “Cherry Pits” below, and check out Ali Awan’s back-catalog on Bandcamp.