honestav and MGK Crash First, Ask Questions Later

honestav spent the last month sneaking this one onto MGK’s stages across Australia and New Zealand, watching rooms full of strangers fall for a song they had never heard. Now Crash First is out everywhere, and it lands exactly the way it did on tour.

Two scene kids who actually clicked

honestav, the viral alt singer songwriter out of southern Missouri, did not luck into this feature. He earned it. He opened for MGK on the Lost Americana run through Australia and New Zealand, and a professional co-sign turned into a real friendship once the two of them started trading stories about the stuff that shaped them. You can hear that in the song. This is not a big name dropping in for a verse and a check. MGK is here because he means it.

A ballad that refuses to stay one

Crash First opens quiet and slow, the kind of intro that pulls you in close. Then the bridge goes off and the whole thing tips over into a full blown anthem. honestav has described it as part soul baring ballad, part high energy banger, and that tug of war is the entire point. The writing digs into childhood scars and adult defiance, the chorus refuses to apologize for any of it, and the dynamics keep you off balance in the best way. Released through Rebel Music and Gamma, it sounds built for a crowd, which makes sense considering where it got its trial run.

What’s coming next

Crash First is the opening shot from honestav’s sophomore album Sweet American Boy, out June 19. The video was shot on the road during that Australia and New Zealand stretch, so you get the song and the story behind it in one place. If you have been sleeping on honestav, consider this your wake up call. Watch the video, stream Crash First, and put June 19 in your calendar.