Music / Premieres
Premiere:
forever renter - Wisteria
forever renter - Wisteria
A little under a month after the release of their debut single, forever renter are back with Wisteria, a taste of their powerfully written and perfectly produced post-punk. Laden with pop-fuelled hooks and arrangements that balance luscious melodies and driving rhythms, the three song EP immediately grabs your attention and is over all too soon.
If you’re not yet aware of four-piece sad-girl post-punk powerhouse forever renter, now is the perfect time to get on board. Their debut EP Wisteria is out now through Common Cult and it’s a hook-laden journey of emotional indie-rock and punk. Bassist and singer Hayley Francis describes the aesthetic conception of the band: “it’s like Virgin Suicides meets Fight Club. I like that childlike, feminine softness crossed with anarchist attitude and leather-clad violence. And I think the music completely followed suit.” Throughout the course of the EP, forever renter explore the duplicity of guilt and pride that comes with leaving someone to find yourself, and how that dichotomy plays out in all aspects of life.
The first single off the EP ‘Dirtlifter’ was released last month (along with a film clip you can check out below). It takes the shape of a breakup song, with hooks to boot, and it sounds like Kylie Minogue crossed with Joy Division. Written while watching an infomercial for a vacuum cleaner, Hayley jokes “you could say it’s about lifting the dirt from your life.” It opens with a punchy drum machine which pulls like a tide beneath the whole song, its driving force. The band then burst in with layers of dry guitars and ethereal synths that cascade over Hayley’s powerful vocal delivery, which is both dreamy and demanding at once. With a chorus as forlorn as it is catchy, it’ll have you simultaneously buying vacuum cleaners and singing along, while you contemplate the transience of all things.
The first single off the EP ‘Dirtlifter’ was released last month (along with a film clip you can check out below). It takes the shape of a breakup song, with hooks to boot, and it sounds like Kylie Minogue crossed with Joy Division. Written while watching an infomercial for a vacuum cleaner, Hayley jokes “you could say it’s about lifting the dirt from your life.” It opens with a punchy drum machine which pulls like a tide beneath the whole song, its driving force. The band then burst in with layers of dry guitars and ethereal synths that cascade over Hayley’s powerful vocal delivery, which is both dreamy and demanding at once. With a chorus as forlorn as it is catchy, it’ll have you simultaneously buying vacuum cleaners and singing along, while you contemplate the transience of all things.
‘Pin’ pulls back the pace a little bit, but maintains the theme of lost love. The verses have an air of vulnerability, with the vocals nearly bare save for some floating, ambient synth pads and soft drums. They build and build on this until they reach the explosive dream-pop chorus, which lights up as screaming lead guitars interchange with Francis’ passionate singing. The marriage of vulnerability and empowerment in this song structure mirrors Francis’ feelings at the time: "they’re about the dissolution of love and hurting someone close to you, but they’re also about a time I felt incredibly empowered and enlightened.”
The final track ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ adopts a more urgent message, as Francis says “[it was] written in light of the recurring horrors that come with simply being on the street (or even at home) as a woman.” Unsettling, ambient guitar noise accompanies the propulsive bassline in the intro, setting the tone for the song. In the chorus, Francis repeatedly laments “I just wanna go home,” which in alliance with the infectious bass hook, leaves a lasting effect. In reference to the EP’s conception, Francis expands that “it’s especially interesting to describe 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' as hysterical, because the word has such a loaded history, being used to diagnose normal women as clinically insane throughout the 20th century. Now we're angry and upset about maybe getting killed as we walk home after work or a show, and it's like, oh you think we're crazy, well maybe we're just crazy enough to come after you!”
At times it’s angst dripping post-punk, at others it’s infectious dream-pop, forever renter’s debut EP, Wisteria, is a strong first release and teems with promise. Francis reflects on the EP as being “soft, wistful and vulnerable moments, contrasted against wild moments of rage, panic and hysteria. That's where the title Wisteria came from. Our three tracks are a balance of wist and hysteria."
The final track ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ adopts a more urgent message, as Francis says “[it was] written in light of the recurring horrors that come with simply being on the street (or even at home) as a woman.” Unsettling, ambient guitar noise accompanies the propulsive bassline in the intro, setting the tone for the song. In the chorus, Francis repeatedly laments “I just wanna go home,” which in alliance with the infectious bass hook, leaves a lasting effect. In reference to the EP’s conception, Francis expands that “it’s especially interesting to describe 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' as hysterical, because the word has such a loaded history, being used to diagnose normal women as clinically insane throughout the 20th century. Now we're angry and upset about maybe getting killed as we walk home after work or a show, and it's like, oh you think we're crazy, well maybe we're just crazy enough to come after you!”
At times it’s angst dripping post-punk, at others it’s infectious dream-pop, forever renter’s debut EP, Wisteria, is a strong first release and teems with promise. Francis reflects on the EP as being “soft, wistful and vulnerable moments, contrasted against wild moments of rage, panic and hysteria. That's where the title Wisteria came from. Our three tracks are a balance of wist and hysteria."
Catch forever renter celebrating the release of their new EP this Friday the 13th of December, at the home of Common Cult records in Collingwood (you’ll need to message them through Facebook for the address).
