BETWEEN FRIENDS drops their new single 'laurel' from their forthcoming album, CUTiE. The siblings are known for their hits like 'affection,' 'iloveyou,' and 'suburban wonderland.' The duo is also known for their textured sounds and for pioneering the bedroom pop genre long before we were all stuck in our bedrooms. Rain caught up BETWEEN FRIENDS on their evolving sound, approach to songwriting, style, and the band's upcoming live performance at The Governors Ball in June.
laurel
Tell us about your new song 'laurel' and what you have in store on CUTiE.
‘laurel’ is a song reflecting on a relationship that went sour. We always wanted to make a song that revisited that awkward feeling of an inconclusive ending but never knew what we wanted it to be like.
For us, blending soft sounds with more abrasive drums and bass, seemed like a very BF way of expressing this feeling sonically. In context with the rest of CUTiE, ‘laurel’ feels like a small intimate moment when everything else feels more hopeful, looking towards the future.
We don’t really like to unwind, we are content creating as much as we can. Even in our free time, that’s pretty much all we do.
BETWEEN FRIENDS
Inspirations
What's been inspiring you lately?
Lately, we’ve been heavily inspired by movies, characters and personalities. Throughout this EP, we wanted to write music from multiple perspectives almost as if we were playing other characters in a TV show. Using that technique definitely allowed us to open up in new ways and try new things with our music.
I really like that blue car you have on your instagram and from 'orange juice.' I always wanted a car with headlights that popped up to look like a face. Is that your car? That's a cool set of wheels!
The Supra! It actually belongs to our friend, Sage. He heavily modded it out. Cars have always been a huge part of our lives and a massive inspiration to us. We love to incorporate them anywhere we can in our creative world.
On personal style
How would you describe your personal style?
Cyber organic / rocket power.
It's wild that you were doing bedroom pop before bedroom pop was a thing. How has it been to watch the genre grow?
It's really an amazing thing to see. There are so many artists taking initiative and creating from their own spaces. There is something very honest about how something sounds when someone is doing it themselves. it’s like 1 of 1.
We are happy to be a part of this wave. We always wanted to make something that sounded like us and no one else.
You told Atwood magazine that you both share the same friend groups! Is that still true? How do you unwind from making music?
Always true. Big twin telepathy energy.
We don’t really like to unwind, we are content creating as much as we can. Even in our free time, that’s pretty much all we do.
Growing with our listeners
How have things changed from i like when you shine! to your latest singles 'more' and 'orange juice'?
It’s all just progression, we have always loved the idea of growing with our listeners. We just want you to hear us get better and more defined.
The Governors Ball
Are you looking forward to playing at The Governors Ball?
We are so excited. It’s our first festival!
You all are so prolific! How do you go about choosing a set list?
Choosing the set list has been a big challenge because we want to stuff in so much. Having never played live as BETWEEN FRIENDS, we wanna play a lot of our discography! The mixtape, some of ‘we just need some time together.’ and ‘CUTiE’!
Instagram: @betweenfriends