STEADY HABITS
Debut Album Deviate
Out September 19th
“Best of British Country & Americana 2024" Holler
"An excellent band with tremendous potential...an exciting blend of 90's nostalgia" Americana UK
"...some mighty clever songwriting…merging pop hooks with alt-country twang" Country Queer
Indie-Americana band Steady Habits release their highly anticipated debut album Deviate on September 19th. Fronted by New England Native Sean Duggan, the record explores masculinity, memory, and what it means to come home to yourself when "home" never quite fit to begin with.
Blending the widescreen warmth of Tom Petty with the emotional precision of modern indie-folk artists like Waxahatchee and CMAT, Deviate is a personal and poetic body of work shaped by Duggan's journey toward self possession, moving from the American Northeast to England. With jangling guitars, restless heartland rock energy and confessional songwriting, Steady Habits’ debut sits somewhere between Jason Isbell and ROLE MODEL, finding a contemporary voice of its own.
"I grew up in environments where it was easier to overlook my own vulnerabilities. These songs are about reclaiming my voice, untangling memory, family, queer experiences, and choosing to take up space on my own terms.”
Speaking on the title “Deviate”, Duggan shares, “This track is a love letter to that younger version of me, and to those that are growing up in a world that is eroding freedoms to explore and express who they are. The LGBTQ+ community have long been labelled as deviants. The title reclaims that word as a badge of pride.”
The leading single ‘Stay’, premiered on BBC Introducing, showcases the band’s well-crafted fusion of contemporary country and 90s alt-rock, a gritty and nostalgic portrait of the start of a relationship. ‘Edge of Changing’ opens the record with a sense of quiet reckoning, rooted in themes of growing pains and shifting family dynamics. ‘Archer Street’ paints a cinematic portrait of a kinship unraveling amidst a crumbling, neon-lit cityscape.
A raw, intimate centerpiece of the album, ‘Deviate’ draws on childhood memories, faith, and the quiet defiance of queer self-discovery. Set against a stripped-back arrangement of acoustic guitar, banjo, and haunting slide, the song unfolds like a confessional. Heavy guitars and a stormy pulse drive ‘Garden State’, a song built on the tension of shame, legacy, and escape. Told through the eyes of a closeted man fleeing a hostile hometown, the track is inspired by a chilling family anecdote about generational homophobia.
Recorded in Oxford with collaborators from across the UK Americana and indie circuit and co-produced by James Wyatt at Sloe Flower Studio, Steady Habits debut pulls from across the Atlantic with a lyrical worldview that is distinctly queer, American, and grounded in subtle resistance: to shame, to binaries, to smallness.
Steady Habits have been making waves in the UK, recently highlighted as a “Best of UK Country & Americana 2024” by Holler, with singles from Deviate landing on BBC Wales and BBC Introducing. Their electric live performances and evocative songwriting have earned them their showcase at the 2025 Americana Music Week in London, and band has shared stages with artists such as The Hanging Stars, Our Man in the Field, and Morganway, gracing festival stages at Black Deer, Truck Festival, and The Long Road Festival, where they are set to return for 2025.
Deviate arrives 19 September 2025 on all platforms, with limited vinyl and CD editions.
FFO: Waxahatchee, Jason Isbell, Kevin Morby, Leif Vollebekk, Hannah White, ROLE MODEL.
Credits
Co-Produced by James Wyatt & Sean Duggan
Engineered by Chris J. Barker
Sean Duggan - Acoustic guitar, Vocals, Harmonica
Cathy Ife - Vocals, Bass
Joe Coombs - Electric Guitar
Jon Shacklock - Pedal Steel
Jamie Dawson - Drums
Live dates
22-24th August, The Long Road Festival 2025 Bottesford, United Kingdom TICKETS
19th September - ALBUM LAUNCH - The Bullingdon, Oxford, United Kingdom TICKETS
6th November, Water Rats, London, United Kingdom TICKETS
(supporting the Dreaming Spires)
18th November, The Victoria, Birmingham, United Kingdom TICKETS
19th November, New Adelphi, Hull, United Kingdom TICKETS
20th November, Chelmsford, United Kingdom TICKETS
21st November, 33 Oldham St, Manchester, United Kingdom TICKETS
23rd November, Audio, Glasgow, Scotland TICKETS