WATCH: Francis of Delirium - 'Real Love'

Hello again! Two posts in two days? Who is she?? Short answer: I'm SO obsessed with this beautiful new video from Francis of Delirium that I instantly needed to share it. I've loved the project for years, and loved this track when it came out back in July. The new video, co-written and co-directed by Jana herself along with Rares Matei, is a gorgeous representation of a young blossoming relationship. Too pure. 

Talking about the track, Jana shares: "'Real Love' at its heart is a simple song about being in love with your best friend. For years, timing got in the way. I got in my own way, and then finally, it worked out. Coming out of a two-month-long tour in the US and heading into summer back at home, it felt like my world was opening up. I wanted to write a song that reflected the feeling of leaning into vulnerability, a song that embraces telling the people you love what they mean to you and truly meaning it. Spending every night watching The Districts on tour really impacted me. There was this hopefulness I heard in their music that I really connected to. After writing our last EP ‘The Funhouse’ which was all about darkness and the feeling of being engulfed by the chaos of the world, I just couldn’t write anything super dark and heavy at the time, it just wouldn’t come out. My body and brain were just guiding me to writing lighter, more open music."

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WATCH: Francis of Delirium - 'The Funhouse'

Oh hello! Francis of Delirium are back and all might be alright, if only for a moment?! New track The Funhouse arrives with another brilliant self-directed video from Jana, and just when we need a dose of their honest no-holds-barred reflections on modern life. As always, every aspect here is superb, right down to Jana's closing "slow it down, slow it down." Perfect. 

On the track, Jana shares: "The Funhouse is largely about how we are adapting to the chaos that is present in our everyday lives. The way it can feel that the world is crashing down around us and in order to protect ourselves, we become numb to the sheer terror of it all. Sort of like walking through a funhouse and attempting to remain unphased by the mayhem that surrounds you."

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LISTEN: Francis of Delirium - 'All Love'

Psssssssst. Good news. A new track from Francis of Delirium arrived yesterday. Rejoice. The brainchild & alter-ego of Luxembourg-based 20 year-old Jana Bahrich, FoD has been one of my favourite discoveries of the past year, courtesy of Stay Loose, with EPs All Change and Wading. A torrent of creativity has ensued across the year, with various self-made music videos that are well worth your time over on Youtube. The new track arrives just in time for the UK tour, starting in a couple of days... 

Mixed by Jolyon Thomas (Royal Blood, Slaves) and mastered by Joe Lambert (Sharon Van Etten, Deerhunter) the track is genuinely one of my favourite Francis tunes yet.. I think I say this every time but they're all just so damn good. 

On the track, Jana shares that it is "about dissociating from what your present moment really looks like. Sonically, I wanted the song to sort of reflect that and feel like a big wave of sound that sweeps you up and carries you away from that reality and anything that feels painful to think about. That suspended feeling is meant to be shown via the looping video I made to go alongside the song, which highlights that feeling of floating then falling away." 

The UK tour starts in Brighton on Saturday (16th) taking in some solo shows before a run of dates with Coach Party, concluding at Omeara on the 28th. If you can't make the shows over the next couple of weeks, a headline show has just been announced at Sebright Arms on 3rd Feb. All dates here.

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WATCH: Francis of Delirium - 'Come Out and Play'

I'm still here! Kinda. Finding it a bit overwhelming to try and slot back into my usual routine of a few posts each week and frankly a little confused how I ever had the time to do two jobs alongside the blog and various other bits. Not to worry - I'm being patient with myself (so please bear with if you're waiting on responses to emails etc) and posts will likely be a little bit sporadic for the time being. Not right now though, a post awaits you...

Writing this on Wednesday evening, I've been working from home today... and I've had this track, the new Muna and Phoebe Bridgers track and Jump Off The Top by The Vaccines on a near-constant repeat. Come Out And Play is the first new track from Francis of Delirium since their Wading EP earlier this year. They never put a foot wrong - each track is a pure delight, and they usually arrive with a brilliant homemade video. This one is no exception! In fact - the behind the scenes here is just as good as the video itself. All hail Jana, I say. 

On the track, Jana shares "I kept thinking about clowns when making this song, I watched Felini's '8 1/2' and the closing scene where a procession of clowns play in a band stuck with me. I had them in my mind for months, thinking about the way they hid behind painted faces, keeping so much hidden from the audience, and also just how sad they seemed. I wanted this song to feel dark and to have an eeriness that would make sense in the background of some weird art movie about funhouses and carnivals."  

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WATCH: Francis of Delirium - 'Red'

I don't think that I'l ever tire of sharing new music from Francis of Delirium. The Luxembourg duo are back with Red, the latest release from upcoming EP Wading, due on April 9th via Dalliance Recordings. Originally a bedroom project of then 18-year-old Jana Bahrich, originally from Vancouver, she later invited drummer & producer Chris Hewett, originally from Seattle, to join. Their musical styles and experiences blend to make a sound that I simply can't get enough of, and Jana's vocal delivery is some of the best I've heard in a long time. So much power and passion conveyed through vocals which feel intimate yet would certainly feel at home in a stadium.... remember those?

On the track, Jana shares: "Red is the pushing away of someone and justifying it with your anger rather than rationally discussing your feelings. It's believing something you thought to be true and then that being switched. It's the loss of trust in a relationship. You're left angry and confused, unsure of yourself, or who to trust. Instead of communicating effectively, you start to push away, preemptively moving into isolation as a defence mechanism to stop yourself from more hurt."

"Simultaneously the song challenges the goodness I see in myself, as a good friend, someone filled with love is gone, which distances you from this idea of yourself even further. So you're pushing away someone else and pushing away a version of yourself you enjoy." 

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WATCH: Francis of Delirium - 'Let It All Go'

Really excited to share this brand new tune from Francis of Delirium. I've written about them before, but if they're new to you - FoD is led by 19 year-old Jana Bahrich alongside collaborator Chris Hewett. They're a Canadian-American duo based in Luxembourg and signed to UK label Dalliance Recordings (Gia Margaret, Common Holly, Wilsen). They shared their debut EP All Change last year and have a follow up coming very soon - Wading. Following up recent single Lakes (SO good) they're back with new track Let It All Go, alongside a 'claymation' music video made by Jana herself. I love how fiercely creative she is. I also love the tiny Fleabag snippet in the video. Blink and you'll miss it. 

About the track, Jana explains that "'Let It All Go' chronicles a full commitment to isolation. It imagines me on a night out, drunk and babbling on about how sad I am. Nobody wants to be around that person. At the heart of this song, away from all the craziness, is a desire to accept change and find acceptance within myself, letting go of holding onto any pain or hurt."

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EP NEWS: Francis of Delirium - 'Wading'

Loving this. Francis of Delirium burst into the world with Quit Fucking Around earlier this year, releasing their debut EP All Change to much acclaim. The duo, made up of 19 year-old Jana Bahrich and collaborator Chris Hewett, who are Canadian-American in origin and Luxembourg-based, have just announced their second EP, Wading, due in February. Their debut EP saw Jana searching for identity and finding it in the relationships with her friends and family and her passion in connecting with strangers through performance. The follow-up continues this exploration - what happens when these connections aren't available to us? Very much a 2020 problem. 

On lead single Lakes, Jana comments "the main idea in Lakes is that we are all fed by other people (or other "rivers") to eventually form who we are, one large lake fed by other water streams, one community. Left emptied and lost, you begin to lose your sense of self. Your anchor was the people around you, and now you're tied to nothing, floating around in a space alone." 

Following from being songwriter, videographer and artwork creator on All Change, the new EP sees Jana add co-producer to that list. Influences on production included the recent albums from Bon Iver, Dua Lipa and Caroline Polachek, with Jana waking up early to listen to an album on her balcony each day (I admire the ability and commitment to do this!)

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WATCH: Francis of Delirium - 'Equality Song'

"Sometimes it feels like a fact of life, you're born, get your period and you'll get raped some time." 

As well as being a brilliant song - this is SO important. Luxembourg-based Canadian-American duo Francis of Delirium, who released their first track back in January and their debut EP in June, are back with a rightfully angsty track, fighting against systems which offer little help to victims of abuse. To see 19 year-old Jana Bahrich singing this track fills me with a whole wave of emotions, good and bad - it's a really powerful song. Funded by the Ministry of Equality in Luxembourg to celebrate 100 years of women's voting, the track is on Bandcamp a week before streaming platforms, with proceeds from downloads going to Femmes en Detresse, a domestic abuse charity in Luxembourg which provides protection and therapy.

About the track, Jana explains that it "was written mainly out of anger, at how absurd it is that sexual abuse is so normalised, and the systems that are in place just essentially shit on anyone that comes forward with their story. The Brett Kavanaugh hearings had just happened and then every week it felt like another story came out and it seemed like no-one cared. You grow up learning to be sceptical of other people and spend a lot of time in fear of the people around you. So, the song is meant to be lashing out about how broken structures and systems are."

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