Premiere: The Fan Brave Aching Change On “Either Way”
Growing older brings a clarity that’s both liberating and gutting. You learn how to live with less, how to endure heartbreaks with more grace, and, most painfully, how to let go of people you once thought would be in your life forever. In this new phase of adulthood, where the days move faster and the past weighs heavier, some relationships slip away without warning, severed not by dramatic events but by the slow burn of silence.
That’s the aching core of “Either Way,” the vibrant new single from The Fan, led by Richmond native Jim Ivins. Set for release on Friday, June 27th, this new track is an emotional reckoning wrapped up in a radiant pop-rock anthem, sharply contrasting raw introspection with polished production. It’s a song that lives comfortably in two worlds: a catchy, replayable pop-rock gem for the causal listen as well as a deeply cathartic and poignant journal entry set to music. Today, The Auricular is thrilled to premiere this new song ahead of its release with an exclusive stream below along with a closer look at the song’s creative journey.
Opening with ringing guitar notes quickly joined by booming, punctuated rhythms, the song wastes no time establishing its emotional contrast. The music is instantly catchy and propulsive, paired with lyrics that hint at something fractured beneath the surface. Vivid memories of a once-unshakable bond (“We were a dust storm\ Making a wave”) and a shared journey marked by rebellion and freedom (“We loved the back roads\ To enter the gates”) flow through the verses, each line steeped in past-tense nostalgia and shadowed by the inevitability of an ending (“A broken clock\ Counting night to the day\ An end before a start”). The production is polished and sharp, giving every thought and recollection space to land with full impact, never letting the emotional weight get lost in the song’s exhilarating momentum.
Bittersweet in contrast, the song lays bare a harsh truth that accompanies growing older, one we begin to understand even while still counting the days to what should be the prime of our lives. It’s timeless in that way, bridging the gap between youth and adulthood with aching clarity with a resonant aesthetic from all angles. The bright, uplifting music evokes the carefree spirit of summers past, friends by your side, living in the moment with no plans beyond making the next unforgettable memory. It’s nostalgic without being sentimental, a reflection wrapped in joy that only deepens the ache beneath it.
The origins of “Either Way” trace back to October 2024, during the same session that produced the band’s previous single, “Leverage.” In a burst of creative momentum, Jim Ivins, guitarist Steve Snider, and drummer Joey Arias put the music together in just an hour inside Pedro Aida’s renowned Audio Verite Studios. But after that quick genesis, the track was shelved, left untouched until a surprising chain of events in January revived its potential and brought it into the spotlight.
That month, Ivins and his brother Jack were gearing up for the twelfth edition of their “Grunge Night” charity concert at The Basement in Nashville. A staple in the local music scene, the biannual event brings together a rotating cast of musicians, from Broadway players to seasoned touring professionals, to perform curated setlists of ’90s grunge classics. For Ivins, it’s not just a celebration of a formative genre, but also a continued source of creative energy and connection, driven each time by fresh faces and unexpected collaborations.
“A drummer friend of ours, who was set to do the show, reached out to me saying that he had just worked with Katie Cole from The Smashing Pumpkins and wondered if I would like him to ask her if she would be interested in doing the show,” Ivins stated. Cole has been attached to the famed alt-rock group since the mid-2010s where she initially filled in on a string of dates playing acoustic, before joining the band’s touring line-up and contributing to their recorded output beginning with 2020’s Cyr. “I immediately said “um, yes,” Ivins continued, “and, thankfully, she was game, and wound up being the nicest person, with the two of us hitting it off immediately.”
Cole performed that night alongside both Ivins brothers and a few other local players, delivering a powerful rendition of Soundgarden’s “Let Me Drown.” Energized by the collaboration and still chasing that musical high the next day, she and Ivins quickly agreed they should work together again. “She asked if I had any songs lying around and I, of course, lied and said I did,” Ivins admitted. “But immediately I thought of the song that The Fan still had lying around that just needed my vocals.”
Ivins quickly promised to send over a song in a few days, undaunted by the fact that it existed only as an instrumental at that point. With a makeshift plan in place, he sprang into action. “I called my friend and long-time mixer Andreas Magnusson and asked if I could come over that Saturday, so I could send Katie the song that night,” he said. “Which meant I had three days to actually write these lyrics. Ever the lyrical procrastinator, that Friday, they came to me.”
Those lyrics emerged from a deep, personal space. “‘Either Way’ is a true story from my own life about one of my oldest friends cutting me out of their life with no explanation,” Ivins revealed. “As we grow up and get deep into our thirties and beyond, long-time friendships, particularly ones that began as young children, become more unrealistic and harder to maintain.” The heart of the song lies in the emotional weight of that unexpected distance, with the sudden silence following years of closeness serving as its driving force.
In the pre-chorus, the song’s lyrics ask questions that cut to the bone: “But if we knew we’d say goodbye\ Would we care to even try?\ Or would the time be worth having spent\ For making us who we are?” It’s a heavy consideration, one that seems to surface more often as the years go by. “I think that’s a powerful question that people ask themselves,” Ivins said, “because on the one hand it’s, ‘if you could so easily discard me, why did we stay friends in the first place?’ weighed against, ‘or is all of life important, good or bad, because it makes us who we are?'”
The chorus answers both questions with a painful realization, one that speaks to both growing distance and growing older: “Either way\ I’m bound to break\ For growing apart\ Or growing older.” It’s a stark admission, made bearable only by the song’s soaring, full-bodied instrumentation. “Growing up and getting older can be tough for anyone,” Ivins said, “particularly artists with arrested development, such as myself. So these types of introspections are what’s most important to me these days as I write.”
Katie Cole’s presence elevates the track from personal meditation to a two-sided story, suggesting a severed bond between once-intertwined souls. “Katie sent me her choir of vocals in two days,” Ivins said, “and not only do they provide so many new colors to the song … but they really give it this air of familiarity with classic duets, like [Tom] Petty & [Stevie] Nicks, particularly over the more old-school pop-rock sound of the music.” In classic Jim Ivins fashion, that familiar touchstone wasn’t the only one he hoped to land on the song, with a bridge designed with early alternative heroes R.E.M. in close mind, making “Either Way” a song that ties its universality together with threads from heartland rock, alternative, and even grunge.
For Ivins and The Fan, “Either Way” stands out in their evolving catalog as a song that captures the quiet grief brought on by change, tempered by the hopeful outlook needed to keep moving forward. Born from a serendipitous collaboration and a lightning-fast creative session, the track gives voice to Ivins’ deeply personal story. This approach has long defined Jim Ivins’ career, marked by collaborations with industry heavyweights both behind the scenes and on stages big and small, taking him around the world and including a historic milestone as the first rock artist to perform in Sudan just a few years ago.
With each passing year, Ivins adds more reasons for listeners to keep a close ear on his work, and this latest single is no exception. Above all, “Either Way” offers something beyond the closure it seeks: a beautifully sung, sharply observed reflection on what it means to be left behind… and still cherish what you once shared.
“Either Way” is set for release on Friday, June 27, which you can pre-save by clicking here. Catch The Fan live next on July 19 at Bellweather Garage, and be sure to follow Jim Ivins’ musical projects on social media for more shows and updates: The Fan, Jim Ivins, and The Ivins.
