The Friendship sound has always existed within an ambiguous space. Each release plays as a stagnant dispatch from a world in motion, Wriggins left to pick the bones out of any given moment in futile hope of making sense of his existence. The grand narratives of life—be that love, work, success or self-improvement—are often revealed to be emptier than he had hoped, yet the inverse is also shown to be true. The ordinary, the everyday, that is where the sublime lurks for those with the time or motivation to look.

Caveman Wakes Up promises to delve deeper into this idea, a record which finds the familiar vocals and lyricism supported by Friendship’s most ambitious and exploratory sound to date. The core group of Peter Gill (guitar, synth, vibraphone, vox), Michael Cormier-O’Leary (drums, percussion, piano, organ, synth, vibraphone, drum machine, string and woodwind arrangement), Jon Samuels (bass, synth) and Wriggins (vox, guitar) are supported with occasional appearances from Adelyn Strei (flute, clarinet) and Jason Calhoun (violin), and the result further tests the boundaries between country and its adjacent genres—leaning out across the various schools of folk rock and even further still.

‘Free Association’ is the ideal entry point to this freshly curious sound. “Another one about love and other people and how the only hope we’ve got in the search for meaning is to make it up,” as Wriggins told Stereogum. “The Mellotron sax and voice patch were both jokes that we ended up loving. Also the only song with synth bass. We’re proud as hell of the production.”

Watch the video directed by Zach Puls below:

Caveman Wakes Up will be released on the 16th May via Merge Records and you can pre-order it now from the Friendship Bandcamp page.

Cover art: Matthew Reed, Tenant’s Rights, acrylic on canvas. Design: Daniel Murphy

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Lead single ‘Figs and Peaches’ hints at the depth of Natural Science, as Lindsay Reamer weaves a set of what might appear to be disparate threads into a nuanced picture of humanity’s relationship with the environment. “I wrote ‘Figs and Peaches’ after reading a trail sign about invasive plants somewhere along the Natchez Trace in Mississippi,” Reamer explains. “I learned that Japanese Stiltgrass was first introduced to North America because it was used as packing material for shipments of fragile porcelain in the early 20th century. Stiltgrass is now found pretty much everywhere east of Texas.”

But the stiltgrass is only one such example within this song alone. Reamer offers a wider picture of an environment constantly changing according to human development, something notable for how inadvertent it often proves to be. Like the stories of tropical fish gathering around the recently demolished B. L. England Generating Station in south Jersey. “It’s rumoured that the warm water surrounding the plant attracted fish that might usually migrate south which made it an excellent fishing spot. This all got me thinking about unintended consequences, which is a heavy theme within environmental history,” Reamer continues:

On an individual level, I think there’s something oddly comforting about knowing we can affect the things around us… for better or worse. In this song I’m focusing on the former. This framing makes me feel less hopeless. So, I think this song is about me trying to remember that in my own little life; to be less passive. To reach out, pick my own fruit, and own the consequences instead of waiting for it all to come to me.

A variety of collaborators bring Lindsay Reamer’s sound to life, with Tyler Bussey (guitars, banjo), Artie Sadtler (bass), Lucas Knapp (synthesizers, percussion), Juliette Rando (drums), Will Henriksen (fiddle) and Eliza Niemi (cello) all lending their talents, and appearances from Victoria Rose (vocals), Michael Cormier-O’Leary (drums), Peter Gill (guitar), Frank Meadows (bass) and Jon Samuels (vocals) on specific tracks too. What results is a sound evocative and malleable enough to chart these environmental changes. And, fittingly for a lead single searching for a more active disposition, ‘Figs and Peaches’ seizes the listener immediately with what might be the loudest track on the record.

Gardens on the land
Castles on the beaches
I trust my hand and
Pluck my figs and peaches

It’s what I want, it’s what I want

Watch the video below by John Mitchell and Reamer herself below:

Natural Science will be released on the 16th August via Dear Life Records and you can pre-order it now.

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Wish you Were Here Tour is marked by its upbeat nature, retaining a sense of buoyancy even when describing more morose or troublesome situations. But that’s not to say the record is without a sad countershade, and indeed the 2nd Grade style could be described as an interplay between carefree progress and wistful retrospect. Opener ‘Favourite Song’ certainly errs on the second side of the equation, melancholic in comfortable way, where sadness is another version of fondness.

Tracks such as ‘No More Parties’ and ‘There’s Something I Should Tell You’ add an injection of loose-limbed energy, conjuring summer days of no plans and high cloud, while ‘Bad Idea’ and ‘Smart Enough’ are more contemplative, the warmth here derived from Gill’s humanistic nature rather than any environmental source. This sense of empathy and connection is intrinsic to all of the songs, from the frenetic ‘Knock Knock’ and lo-fi garage rock of ‘As Long As We Can Talk About It’ to the gentle longing of the title track, the binding skeleton around which Gill is free to experiment and mix up the 2nd Grade sound.

Which goes some way to explaining the themes of the record, too. With the title in mind, a sense of longing is omnipresent across the album, be it for another person or place or time entirely. However, rather than being the hollow escapism of much nostalgia, 2nd Grade use yearning as a mode of living and learning, as though the passing of things both good and bad lend life a comforting sense of flow. Gill evokes the past not in the hope of returning to it or recreating its dimensions, but rather as a way to remain mindful of the present. To not get bogged down in the moment, but rather lie back and float upon the current.

We’re delighted to be able to stream the record a few days before release, so grab your headphones, sit back and relax:

Cover design by Jon Samuels, photo by Abi Reimold

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