French For Rabbits

The third LP from French for Rabbits is as ethereal as ever - but with layers of detail that make for an absorbing headphone listen.

“Released next month, The Overflow is an enriching body of work, wonderfully warm and ambiguous in all the right places.” - GoldFlakePaint

“Their music’s beating heart is often shrouded by atmospherics and mystique, and they seem to operate under the rightful assumption that a well-placed whisper can be as powerful as dramatically belting it out.” — Stereogum

“Lovely and poignant...cutting lament with a serene, wintry wistfulness for the way things were, and a stoic resignation that they’ll never be the same.” - Gorilla vs. Bear

“...glows with tenderness and charm, as vocalist Brooke Singer carries a wealth of emotion in her smoky, soft-spoken croon.” - Consequence of Sound

New Zealand's French for Rabbits are in a constant state of creation with their warm and nuanced music. Their songs and accompanying videos are the result of the masterful storytelling that we've come to expect from the group, and the dynamic they've built together over nearly a decade. Today, the band have shared "Walk the Desert," the fourth and final taste of their stellar new record, The Overflow, out November 12th via AAARecords (NZ/AUS), Reckless Yes (UK) and A Modest Proposal (Italy). The album will be released digitally, on CD and limited edition vinyl (with two unique colour variants out of New Zealand and the UK).

"'Walk the Desert' is another song that fits into the canon of this album – it’s about big feelings, and trying to keep them contained. That feeling that if someone asks if you’re alright, you know you’d burst into tears," front-woman Brooke Singer explains of the emotive lyrics. 

The Overflow was recorded with NZ producer/musician Jol Mulholland (Tami Neilson, Neil Finn, Delaney Davidson, Troy Kingi) in Wellington at The Surgery and in Auckland at The Lab, with mastering by Carl Saff in Chicago. The result on "Walk the Desert" is premium indie-pop, that Singer has proclaimed her pride in, "I think we’ve managed to create our biggest, most solid pop song, and I’m really proud of that."

On the new album, the group sweeps forward with their most dazzling body of work to date. Written and recorded mostly in 2020, the songs on The Overflow cover a wide range of relevant topics, with the common threads of introversion and anxiety woven throughout. "The Overflow is our album for introverts and deep thinkers - it is sort of a constellation of all the different ways in which someone can be anxious.

"I'm worried about the future, wistful for the past, concerned about my friends and family, having social anxiety at parties, baffled by Donald Trump's presidency, loathing of social media and grieving the degradation of our environment. Sounds like a total downer...but I promise it isn't!"

Yet lyricist Brooke delineates that the album was made as an offering of comfort, "Perhaps it is more like a warm blanket. I'm really delighted with what we've made, very proud of our creation. I hope it finds its way into the right hands, and people give it a chance to sink it...I want people to listen to it loudly. Not quietly in the background...it's an album for introverts, but it isn't an introverted album."

Surfacing nearly a decade ago from long oceanic shores, dream-pop luminaries French for Rabbits create music that feels like it has been crafted from the fabric of the New Zealand landscape and psyche – with its salty waves, isolated coastlines, expansive skies and friendly, approachable people. That is to say, their music is both intimate and expansive, welcoming and wary, poetic but piercing.

Led by songwriter and producer Brooke Singer, the project came to life when she started working with guitarist John Fitzgerald in the small coastal township of Waikuku Beach back in 2012. His minimalist but shimmering guitar lines proved to be the backbone of their early work, and over the years the band has expanded to include multi-instrumentalists Ben Lemi and Penelope Esplin alongside drummer Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa.

They emerged from a vibrant local folk scene alongside Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding and Tiny Ruins. Together, the band have released three records - New Zealand Music Award nominated EP Claimed by the Sea; Spirits, which includes the poetic and emotive singles “Goat” and “The Other Side;” and The Weight of Melted Snow. They’ve toured in the US and Europe, opening for acts such as Lorde, Agnes Obel and performed at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, WOMAD and in a castle for a fan’s wedding in Switzerland. Despite racking up millions of streams and seeing their music appear in shows from Vampire Diaries to Being Human, the band have remained close to their DIY roots co-running local label Home Alone, and performing in various other bands in their Wellington home-town.

In their new material from forthcoming record The Overflow, the self-confessed anxious introvert Singer is both judge, and comforter. On its title track there is a battle of head over heart, as she seeks to rationalise the mechanics of a panic attack - yet, the song is weightless and optimistically bright in delivery. These subtle juxtapositions are at the center of their work.