If these lyrics, “space girl, I saw a lunar eclipse/ looked like how I feel ‘bout your lips,” sound familiar, then a matching dance probably does too. Bedroom pop singer and songwriter Frances Forever’s track “Space Girl” may have drawn you in on TikTok, but their newest release is what’ll make you want to stay. Follow-up single, “Paranoia Party” gives listeners a glimpse into their EP release by the same name (via Mom+Pop Music) set to be released on July 9th. According to Frances Garrett, the artist behind Frances Forever, “this EP is all about feeling alone in a crowded room,” and their title track accompanied by its music video capture just that.
The video begins with Frances Forever entering a house, and they slowly walk through the home observing guests with masking cloths concealing their body which seemingly serves as a metaphor for covering up their insecurities and hidden desires. Frances Forever witnesses one man holding up a dress to himself in a mirror, a heterosexual couple dancing and a woman putting on excessive makeup with mascara running down her face.
After becoming overwhelmed by the masked individuals, Frances Forever finds themself planning a grand escape out of the window— serving as a microcosm for discovering and becoming the more real, genuine version of one’s self. Viewers see a replica of the house but in the form of a dollhouse, and on fire. As the fire engulfs the dollhouse, the camera zooms out to see the unmasked individuals watching it go up in flames. The group is then seen in their most honest forms; the man in his dress, the women together and Frances Forever happy, no longer encumbered by the artificiality of the dollhouse.
The song’s instrumentation is melancholy while the lyrics are riddled with intense anxiety. This theme of feeling different is vividly conveyed in the video. As Frances Forever walks through the house, they notice how everyone else is also internally dealing with who they are versus who they project to others. At the end, they’re able to escape that masked life and view it as a fake playscape in the form of a dollhouse, ready to be themselves in their truest forms as it goes up in flames. But in a world where many are still grappling with being able to be themselves, neither reality in the video is really true— where one is fake yet realistic, and the other honest but idyllic.
When recalling how the song came to be, Frances Forever said, “[I] wrote this song after leaving a party,” which is reflected in lyrics like, “and this couch smells of lovin’ and dyin’ and Bud Light / oh, and this house feels like endless sadness and good times.” What worse time to feel completely alone, paranoid that you’re the only one feeling that way, than at a party— hence the name of their upcoming EP.
Check out the official video, directed by Christina Xing, for yourself below.
Frances Forever’s upcoming EP Paranoia Party comes out on July 9th via Mom + Pop Music. To pre-order, click HERE.
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