As the world was stocking up on necessities and locking down in the early part in the year, the indie-pop duo issued Dear Friend; Part 1, a dynamic, radio-friendly release that spawned two singles, “Bad Things” and “This Rough Patch,” which racked up more than a combined 355,000 plays on Spotify.
And now, FXRRVST (pronounced “forest”), who have earned comparisons to Paramore and Tegan & Sara, returns with Dear Friend Part 2, a new EP released on May 21 that serves to both continue the path laid out on Part 1 while also pushing the duo into new territory. While they might not have initially intended to release two EPs in lieu of one album, they are nonetheless pleased with the way the Dear Friend EPs have come to be.
“When the pandemic hit, it suddenly made a lot more sense to do two releases, especially where we knew we weren’t going to be able to tour,” begins FXRRVST’s Matt Fuentes. “But we had been playing with the idea of doing two releases instead of just one, even before the pandemic, so it all worked out as far as we’re concerned.”
“It’s so important to do your best to keep the band name in front of people,” continues FXRRVST vocalist Holly Forrest. “We’ve arrived at a point where artists and musicians don’t necessarily run the risk of over exposure. The public wants to consume everything they can, so breaking the record up into two separate releases made the most sense.”
While the songs for what became the two parts of Dear Friend were written and recorded at the same time,
breaking the album up into two distinct parts also afforded the group to rethink how to best present these songs to the public. Despite the singles-driven market the world has been living in for the past number of years, both Fuentes and Forrest say they wanted to ensure the two releases maintained a sense of coherence.
“At the outset, when we believed we were going to be releasing just one record, the album was cut along very distinct lines in that it was split into the catchier pop songs on one ‘side’ and then the weirder, more experimental stuff on the other half,” Forrest says. “Breaking the release into two forced us to rethink how we presented these songs so that the balance wasn’t skewed too much in either direction. Nonetheless, Part 2 definitely errs on the darker, more emotive side of the band.”
Dear Friend Part 2’s first single, “Here’s The Key, Don’t Lose It,” released in the fall of 2020, is subtly optimistic, notable not only for its choice of a refrain instead of a chorus, but also the clever, confessional wordplay Forrest employs throughout the song. Despite the lack of conventional song structure, the message behind the song rightfully takes centre stage as the vocalist lays bare mental health struggles.
“In terms of lyrics and the structure of the song, it’s one of the more intellectual tracks on the EP, but also one of the most important songs in our catalogue. It’s a hard-hitting song,” Fuentes says. “From the first time we played the track live, it was clear the song and the message behind it was something that resonated with audiences. A lot of people didn’t see it as being a conventional first single but that’s also exactly why we thought it would be an excellent choice to be the first release from the EP.”
While a somewhat darker outlook hangs over tracks like “Left Lung Sinking,” and “Floorboards,” both of which culminate in irresistibly catchy denouements that will remain stuck in your head, it’s Dear Friend Part 2’s opener and second single “The Story Doesn’t End At Chapter 14” that demonstrates FXRRVST’s knack for crafting undeniably hooky pop songs.
“It’s definitely one of the catchier songs on the EP,” Forrest says. “It’s a fun, upbeat song that helps provide a bit of balance to the rest of the release.”
Since the release of their 2017 debut effort May XXVI, FXRRVST’s career has seemingly been on fast-forward. With over 100 live shows under their belts, airplay on influential radio stations including Toronto’s 102.1 The Edge, Sirius XM Radio’s The Verge, and Melbourne, Australia’s FOX FM, performances on numerous television shows, and a substantial amount of online press, the duo modestly approaches their aspirations for growth.
But if there was one silver lining for the duo in 2020, it was the sharp increase in their online listenership. “We put a lot of effort into finding new and exciting ways to promote ourselves online and a lot of people discovered the band that way,” said Forrest. “We find it exciting to continuously be thinking of new ways to engage those new fans as a means of thanking them for their support.”
With the release of Dear Friend; Part 2 now imminent, FXRRVST is also greatly looking forward to returning to the concert stage in late 2021 as the unforeseen circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic finally subside.
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