‘…‘Church Roof’ would make for a marvellous addition to the discography of any band, let alone the debut single of one…’
At this point in the year, most music critics and journalists will have already started to formulate their end of year lists; pages of the notes app packed with scribbles of what EPs, what albums, and what songs deserve special commendation. Unfortunately for us, and fortunately for us, musicians do not care about our best laid plans, and may well release material that completely upends all of our drafts late into the year. France, You’re on Your Own have done just that.
The Liverpool based duo met at an open mic night, and bonded over their shared love of electronic folk music. Since then, not only have they moved in with one another, they’ve spent nights in an AirBnB writing an EP of material. This month has seen them release their debut single, ‘Church Roof’, and in doing so have released an incredibly late contender for Song of the Year.
An ode to broken Britain, ‘Church Roof’ is a beautifully unexpected single, combining folk, bedroom pop, and punk into a wildly inventive single that demands repeated listens. Minimalist drum machine beats intermingle with gentle folk guitars, whilst the sharp twanging of a banjo sparkles alongside shimmering synths. The bass snakes through the track with a gentle yet compelling groove, whilst the dual vocals of the duo offer a wonderfully whimsical performance whilst delivering an understated yet infectious lead melody. Lyricism teeters between quaint humour and bleak nihilism, as observations of barren high streets sit alongside introspective admissions of apathy, with some particularly incredible lines such as ‘Seven days, I’ll be sober for a week/Put my recovery chip in a slot machine’.
The track then unexpectedly morphs into a thumping folk-punk celebration, with jangling bluegrass banjo, fuzzy bass lines and true percussion orchestrating danceable rhythms, and vocals that almost teeter on the verge of shouted gang vocals. The track slows down once again for one final verse, and the track fades out on a gorgeously bittersweet note, as the band sing ‘Raising money, yeah, to fix the church roof/Couldn’t raise the funds so it all fell through’; no amount of pastoral dreams of God’s green country can save a nation so fractured.
Upon listening to ‘Church Roof’, there is an immediate understanding that France, You’re on Your Own are a unique creative force that possess an incredible potential. ‘Church Roof’ would make for a marvellous addition to the discography of any band, let alone the debut single of one; it deserves more than just a recommendation, but a demand that you listen to it. This truly is something special.
For Fans Of: The Oh Hellos, Topiary Creatures, Agnes Manners, Black Country New Road
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