Today Chicago/Savannah dark folk outfit Fauvely return with a striking new single called “May3e,” the first glimpse of their forthcoming debut album Beautiful Places.
Videos by American Songwriter
“‘May3e’ wasn’t originally supposed to be on the album,” vocalist/guitarist Sophie Brochu tells American Songwriter of the track, which premieres below with an accompanying video. “Our first recording dates were bumped due to Covid and I drafted this song at home about two months into quarantine. During this time, I was taking a lot of evening walks. It was warm and beautiful and the cicadas were screeching. I’d just gotten home from a walk and this song just came to me, as if someone was whispering it into my ear.”
The song pairs Brochu’s quivering, evocative vocals with melodic bass and drum parts, plus a slow-burning guitar bridge. Her lyrics, meanwhile, are visceral and enigmatic: “I am in a way, I’m coming up short,” Brochu chokes in one of two near-identical verses. “I’m following your lead, bring me back for more. I find myself wishing for what I didn’t want. I find myself looking for reasons to be gone. There’s always a light, there’s always the dark. There’s always a road, it’s only my heart.”
“I had placeholder lyrics that I intended to change but decided to keep them in the end,” says Brochu. “The song is about resigning to my surroundings, about being okay with the outcome. It’s about making one decision and not having control over another.”
Brochu finished the song in collaboration with Fauvely’s lead guitarist/keyboardist Dale Price, bassist Phil Conklin, and drummer Dave Piscotti (producer Chace Wall lends backing vocals and acoustic guitar to the final product).
“When I brought the song to the band, it didn’t have a bridge,” Brochu recalls. “We wrote it on the spot and Dale whipped out this absolutely gorgeous guitar line. It was just a little moment of magic.”
Price also shot and edited the accompanying video, a driving-at-night dash cam flick that perfectly complements the song’s spooky suburbia vibe.
Fauvely’s first release of 2021, “May3e” comes on the heels of the band’s recent cover of John Prine’s “Summer’s End” (the original appeared on the late singer-songwriter’s acclaimed 2018 album, The Tree of Forgiveness). Fauvely’s version is haunting and atmospheric, centering Brochu’s lucid, piercing vocals. The band’s forthcoming full-length Beautiful Places follows their 2019 EP This Is What the Living Do and their 2017 debut Watch Me Overcomplicate This.
Photo by Aaron Ehinger
