Photo: Sofia Stolpe
Swedes FRANCIS have been around, in various forms, for a while now. The first incarnation of the band formed back in 2006, and they then put out a couple of Sweden-only releases, 2011’s Lekomberg, We Were Kin album and an EP entitled This Must Be Blood the following year. Since then, the band have gone through significant turbulence, with only two, vocalist Petra Mases and drummer Petter Nygårdh, of the original membership remaining. FRANCIS regrouped for 2015, added guitarist Jerker Krumlinde, bassist Paulina Mellkvist and keyboardist Oskar Bond to the line-up, and now they’re preparing to release their first international album, Marathon. Preceding that is their new single, Follow Me Home.
Follow Me Home is a song full of easy charm, the smooth use of harmonies and breezy guitar lines juxtaposing against the deep melancholy in Mases’ beautifully emotive voice. The instrumentation is kept relatively minimalist for the first two thirds of the track, allowing the vocal to take centre stage, before building up in intensity and tension during the middle eight and then snapping back into the chorus again. Follow Me Home is out now on Strangers Candy, and Marathon arrives on February 5th 2016
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