Brooklyn‘s Foyer Red first won our attention with ‘Flipper’, a song which “[swung] wildly between sugary sweet and strikingly strange to weave its way between the real and imaginary.” The sound was representative of what the band call “fuck-you crayon rock.” An amalgamation of art and math rock inventiveness along with a liberal dash of indie pop charm which allows them to pursue energy and idiosyncrasy simultaneously.
New single ‘Pickles’ is a song of such juxtapositions. It’s an upbeat and often frenetic track that deals with paralysing depression. Though delve a little deeper and the sense of escalation makes sense, the rising momentum reflecting not the exterior stasis but the building pressure within. The gradually dawning sense that things are unbearable, so trapped you feel you might explode.
“The lyrics are about depressive episodes trapping you in your own home, turning physical space into dungeon space,” as lead Elana Riordan puts it. “Everything feels stale; the air gets too warm but you can’t get up to fix it. You’re relying on external factors to make a difference in your world and there’s a sort of intersection of comfort and discomfort.”
Artwork by Elana Riordan, photo by Mary Shea