Reeya Banerjee’s final single before the release of her album This Place is a soaring, echo drenched anthem about grown up love, making tough choices and the bittersweet ache of moving on.

“Upstate Rust” draws its title from a passing comment during Banerjee’s NYC years. Something of an offhand phrase that became a personal badge of identity, and which is now the emotional centerpiece of this record.

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Inspired by a real-life move up the New York State Thruway, “Upstate Rust” pulses with an arena rock heartbeat complete with disco basslines, atmospheric guitar loops and raw and full-belt vocals from Reeya that are both vulnerable and victorious.

The U2 influences are proudly front and center with delay heavy, Edge style guitar lines that stretch towards the horizon, ambient textures that shimmer just beneath the surface and then there is the final chorus builds like a second wind on the open road.

But Banerjee’s vocals are what are never lost. Her vocals are commanding, intimate and moving from wistfulness to defiance. When she sings “We will still be us” , it lands like a promise.

Co-written and produced with Luke Folger, “Upstate Rust” achieves that rare blend of big size in sound and emotion. Its rhythm section drives forwards, while the ambient layering provides a kind of slow transition of transformation that is wide open, skybound and all deeply human.

The music video for “Upstate Rust,” directed by Jack Quigley and shot at Lorien Sound in Brooklyn, captures the song’s energy with equal parts polish and big emotion.

Featuring Banerjee and her band, The Merseyside Darby, in their first on-screen performance together, the video blends tight close ups and sweeping room shots to showcase a group that’s fully locked in. The chemistry is palpable, especially during the final chorus when Banerjee and lead guitarist James Rubino leap into the air in unison.

This is what it looks like when music carries you forward.

But it’s not just the reverb drenched hooks, it is the story it tells. “Upstate Rust” captures that exact moment when your life splits into a before and after: the car is packed, the boxes are taped and the road is calling. You are not running away. You are choosing to go. And you are bringing your heart with you.

The phrase “Upstate Rust” first found its way into Reeya Banerjee’s life during an offhand moment of workplace conversation in her NYC “Working Girl” era. While chatting with colleague A.C. Karchem, he paused and said, “You’re not from the city, are you? You’ve got that upstate rust about you.” What was meant as a compliment, an observation of something weathered and unmistakably real. And that was the phrase that stuck.

As the final track on Banerjee’s album This Place, “Upstate Rust” closes the door softly but surely. The kind of song that you can blast with the windows down knowing full well you may cry on the next exit. And still – you go.

About Reeya Banerjee

Reeya Banerjee is a singer songwriter based in New York’s Hudson Valley. A classically trained vocalist and longtime U2 devotee, she brings a fearless sense of heart to her work whether on stage or in the studio.

Banerjee’s debut album This Place chronicles personal transformation with candor, wit and depth, balancing arena-sized soundscapes with intimate lyrical themes. Her music often explores themes of identity, memory and the grit required to move forward.

Whether fronting her band The Merseyside Darby or collaborating with producer Luke Folger, Banerjee continues to create a path that is one all of her own – rooted, resonant and undeniably real.

Keep up with Reeya Banerjee on her Website

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