New York’s self-styled ‘lofi jangle dream slacker bedroom pop’ artist JW FRANCIS has shared new single “Going Home To A Party” — the latest preview of brand new album ‘Dream House’ set for release 27th January (via London-based label Sunday Best Recordings).
The new single also arrives as JW gears up for a run of live dates in record shops across the UK, kicking-off at Edinburgh’s Assai Records on 27th January and concluding at Vinilo in Southampton on 6th February. Full listings below.
The single leans on a lot of pop-cultural touchstones both sonically and visually, which the winking self-referential video digs into – as JW explains “Going Home to a Party is a song that has a lot of references in it. The beat for example is a sped up version of the beat from The Whole of the Moon by the Waterboys. Similarly I wanted the video to have a lot of references related to how people perceive me. I’ve been compared to all three of the main characters in the video: Steve from Blues Clues, Mr. Rodgers, and Bob Ross. It’s always joked that these three pillars of wholesomeness have a dark side so I wanted to bring that dark side to life and portray them cartoonishly getting into hijinks. Like all of my videos though, goodness wins in the end”.
When JW isn’t writing songs about his own life or surreal imagery, he writes about other people – most notably around February when he writes valentines songs on his fans’ behalf. ‘Dream House’ is built around this collection of glorious tracks written for other people. JW elaborates “Every year, about 6 weeks before Valentine’s Day, I make the following post on social media:
“If you send me the name of your Valentine, and the reason you love them, I’ll write a song for them on your behalf.”
That is how ‘Dream House’ was born, 3 years ago. Over the past three years, I have received over 300 requests from fans to write songs for their loved ones. All of the songs on Dream House come from this project, some of them have been reworked to speak more to the artist’s life, others have remained exactly as they were first written. Ultimately, this is an album about caring for others, and the way we express it.”
Written and recorded at the start of 2021 in NYC, ‘Dream House’ takes cues from The Strokes, with hints of Lou Reed, Mac Demarco or Her’s however the project is still quintessential JW Francis. The blissful melodies and dreamy instrumentation perfectly fit the album’s title.
‘Dream House’ follows the hugely well received WANDERKID and We Share a Similar Joy in proving that JW is the king of laid-back and effortlessly cool song-making. Released on 27th January, the album will be available on both cream and Green vinyl, as well as CD (pre-order here).
JW FRANCIS UK INSTORE DATES
Friday 27th January – Edinburgh – Assai @ 6.30pm
Saturday 28th January – Huddersfield – Vinyl Tap @ 2pm
Saturday 28th January – Leeds – Jumbo @ 5pm
Sunday 29th January – Liverpool – Jacaranda @ 5pm
Monday 30th January – Nottingham – Rough Trade* @ 6pm
Tuesday 31st January – Bristol – Rough Trade* @ 6.30pm
Wednesday 1st February – London – Rough Trade* @ 7pm
Thursday 2nd February – Letchworth – David’s @ 6pm
Friday 3rd February – Kingston – Banquet @ 6pm
Sunday 5th February – Oxford – Truck @ 5pm
Monday 6th February – Portsmouth – Pie & Vinyl @ 1pm
Monday 6th February – Southampton – Vinilo @ 6pm
Tickets / Details for all shows: https://linktr.ee/JWFrancisInstoreTour
