FRND: Be Happy
Looks like it's all-the-feels Friday, ammirite?! You know what I love most about music? (You're probably sitting over there like who tf cares Frank, get on with the review, which OK I hear you but I'm feelin' pretty pumped today so just entertain me for a second, can you handle that? Ok perfect, thank you for your love and cooperation. Now play along and don't embarrass me in front of my friends). Ah-hem. Now. I said do you know what I love most about music?! THE FEELS! That's right. (Thank you for doing that, btw you can sit down now). Here's the thing ladies and gents, I'll be the first to admit I'm a sensitive soul. How that manifests into my daily life or how my body decides to react to it may vary, but I will forever be a creature living all up in the feels. Most of the time I have learned to keep that shit on lock, but then sometimes, oh sometimes, I succumb to the sweet surrender of it all. There's always a trigger. Sometimes the heart strings are forcibly yanked on by someone not realizing their own grip, snapping strings like Lenny and leaving me the dead puppy on the ground. (Woah, shit got dark. Stay with me. You're going to like the review, I guarantee it. And if you're not completely satisfied within the first thirty words minutes, you'll receive a full refund as soon as my tax return hits my account.)
Where was I? Oh yes, heart strings (I feel like it should technically be lung springs since its obvi a breath laboring issue but we'll get into that another day. Please contain your excitement). Dang I am all over the place today. Whatever, all I'm saying is that like sometimes the trigger isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes those strings are tickled, tuned and played just perfectly. Sometimes those strings are tugged in a way not hard enough to snap, but just enough to skip a breath and restart your mind with a clarity and give new found appreciation for breath itself. In my opinion, all scenarios have the equal ability to put you through it. Cut to me listening to this song I'm about to change your life with. (If you're still with me, god bless you. We are almost there. Like musical edging. It'll all be worth it at the end. ) Ok seriously though it's not my fault I've been sent into a tail spin today. Are you ready to hear whose fault it is? FRND! FRND not only dropped the release of this buttery scone to my jam and latest single Be Happy, but they took the bet and doubled down with a simultaneous release of it's animated music video. Just, you know, to intoxicate as many senses as they could on this good Friday.
When I say that I haven't stopped playing it since I first heard it, I am saying that I haven't stopped playing it since I first heard it. Song, video, song, video, song, put the bagel in the toaster, video, slice the tomato, song, avocado, PING - cream cheese the bagel, extra round of the song cause I'm doing shit in the kitchen and wouldn't be able to see the video, tomato-avocado-mrs.dash-paper plate-ass back in seat in front of laptop, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO!!! I should really take a shower but that can wait until I come down a bit.
Where do I even start? You know, when I was a young lass - no no stay with me - I dated this guy in a band (not full blown emo pero like poppy/feely/scremo band) there was a lot of Copeland, which in my opinion share similar vocal sounds to FRND but not as depressing, which may be why this song transported me right back there. To the texts on tour. The loyal groupie to any storage space sized venue in a strip mall within any 4hr drive radius. Influx of all these feelings you didn't know you were capable of. Any functions of periphs blur to black and you don't know any better than to just fall down the rabbit hole. Sometimes we're pushed, and sometimes we voluntarily jump. Then we let our young developing faces hit cement, because how could we have known some asshole before us snuck all the way down a rabbit hole just to lay cement there and take pleasure in watching you face plant and left to figure out how to pick up all those pieces on your own and make sense of them. Eventually we all crawl all the way up and back out and are confronted with that same last face you saw before the cement and you realize that whether you were pushed or whether you leapt, our scars represent strength; healed wounds of the past that all worked very hard to put you back together again they best way scientifically possible so you can stand right there back on that edge and decide which direction you're going to take, which things are out of your control, which things are out of your control and which things are. Release the things that are out. Take charge in the things that are. Start making better decisions for your life and your happiness and the life and happiness of the people you truly want to keep around you. OK seriously if you are still with me and reading this far you are a gilded human that should be rewarded gloriously.
The point I'm trying to make is that this song was all of those things. Without demanding, it sent me down a river of whole milk, not that skim or SILK or almond bs, to a bowl of frosted mini wheats, in a crescendo similarly representing the beautiful balance of the fiber to sugar ratio of it's contents. There were no hard drops. No scary surprises. I felt like FRND took my hand in its incredibly safe and adorably furry little koala bear hands (paws?), and walked me along their clearly safe and designated path, always checking in to make sure I wanted to keep going, and then somehow managed to have ME asking whether he'd be willing to accept an 11 dollar a month donation from me to support other musical endeavors like the raging empath that I am. Point blank, FRND absolutely killed this Be Happy duel release pairing.The song and the video might as well be holding hands as they swing in the park together today. Perfectly layered with weighted scars and hopeful futures. And tapping into that one thing I love about music the most. (C'mon help me out one more time here). As my husband reminds us all anyway, if you're reading this it's too late. So in the spirit of all-the-feels Friday...what do we love about music?! THE FEELS! And who brings the feels?! FRND!!! Class dismissed.