This past Friday, Frances Forever dropped their debut EP for Mom+Pop, paranoia party. This also marks the first new release Frances Forever has put out since the explosion of “space girl” on TikTok last fall. If any of you were wondering if they are the same person who put out “space girl,” yes. Yes they are.
Right from the jump, Frances Forever lets the listener know who their sonic influences are. “depression” feels absolutely in the same vein as the boygenius members. The layering of everything over the vocal sample is amazing. The harmonies are gorgeous. The lyrics are fantastic, and the production is astounding. “depression” has never sounded so good, yet so realistically… well, depressing.
“space girl” is the one that blew up on TikTok, and it makes a big case for music snobs to start using TikTok to discover new music. It’s a fantastic song, and it blew up with good reason. “my condolences to myself” completely flips the script sonically, and it’s just as gorgeous. Frances’ voice is their best feature, but that’s not meant to disparage their songwriting. Their songwriting is just as phenomenal and unique, but their voice is incredible.
“eat the rich” is a fun little ditty that everyone should listen to. It deserves more streams. Same with “daytime.” And the title track, “paranoia party” is outstanding. It’s crazy that this EP covers so much sonic ground. Frances Forever showcases the fact that they can write in pretty much every style that could be asked of them, and that is incredible. The only thing that could be said to oppose this EP’s quality is that there isn’t any cohesion between the tracks. They all sound like they belong on different projects.
However, even then, that’s a stupid argument. As an up-and-coming artist, Frances Forever needs to show off their chops in as many styles as possible so they aren’t pigeonholed into one specific sound, and this EP achieves that goal. There is no sonic cohesion because that’s not the purpose of this EP.
Taken directly from my notes after repeated listens: “Frances Forever absolutely killed it. They’re amazing. They better blow up for more than just ‘the TikTok song.’ Cause this EP is a phenomenal showcase of everything they’re capable of, and that’s a lot. They have a great career ahead of them.” I will stand by that.
Let us know what you think about Frances Forever and paranoia party! The closing from the press release is better than anything I could come up with, so here it is: “On paranoia party, their claim is staked more definitively than ever, its myriad moods promising to send listeners reeling into romance or off floating in existential space. And you’re invited to the celebration.”
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