[Cover photo credit to Lily Paris West]
New Zealand-based Dream-Pop project French for Rabbits will be releasing new album The Overflow on November 12th via AAA Records (NZ/AUS), A Modest Proposal (Italy) and Reckless Yes (UK, ROW) and we’ll have a number of formats to choose from, including CD, digital, and limited edition vinyl (UK: Eco Vinyl, NZ: black vinyl and pink swirls on clear).
The group is quite open about the impact that New Zealand’s atmosphere and landscape have had on their music, describing it as “crafted from the fabric of the New Zealand landscape and psyche – with its salty waves, isolated coastlines, expansive skies and friendly, approachable people”.
The project is led by songwriter and producer Brooke Singer, who started working with guitarist John Fitzgerald in the small coastal township of Waikuku Beach in 2012, and over the years the band has expanded to include multi-instrumentalists Ben Lemi and Penelope Esplin alongside drummer Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa.
On the new record The Overflow, we’ll find perspectives of an “anxious introvert” (courtesy of Singer) and the album’s title track lays out “a battle of head over heart” in seeking to “rationalise the mechanics of a panic attack”. However, the song offers optimism and a lighter sound that’s typical of the “juxtapositions” the group likes to explore.
The single and video “The Outsider” have recently been released ahead of the album, and Brooke Singer comments regarding the songwriting:
“In 2019 I visited LA for the first time to do some co-writing with a few different producers and songwriters ahead of a French for Rabbits tour – it was an exciting, dizzying experience – all the palm trees and heat. One balmy day, I had a session with Marc Orrell and Brooke Johnson and we ended up writing my favorite song on this new record – an introvert’s anthem that finds joy in the act of being alone. The song distils the feeling of being an awkward introvert at a party – staring at your phone on the edges of a crowd.”
The video explores this narrative further by presenting the reality of feeling like a “ghost at a party”. To make the video, the group threw an actual party with friends and had a great time while Singer enjoyed “being a ghost”.
