PREMIERE: Stray Fossa's With You For Ever
We’re honored to partner with Stray Fossa to bring you an exclusive look into their debut full-length album With You For Ever, out wherever you listen to music on April 9. Through a perceptive approach to touring and release schedules, inventive songwriting and composition, and a tireless work ethic, Stray Fossa has emerged from the long-heralded Charlottesville indie scene to become a mainstay in playlists and blogs across the world. In that vein, With You For Ever is a compelling tour de force that brilliantly juxtaposes points of wistful contemplation against blithe optimism.
Boxcar Collective’s Zack Holden spoke with Stray Fossa’s Nick Evans, Will Evans, and Zach Blount about this latest release, covering everything from songwriting and theme development to sonic influences to future creative directions for the band.
Zack Holden: The last time I talked to you guys, which was in mid-November right around the release of "It's Nothing", you mentioned,
"It’d be great to do a full-length album, but the question is whether or not that makes sense nowadays. The question you have to ask yourself is “How much do I have to say at any given time, and do the songs all make sense together? Do they all kinda come from the same place?”
So, with your debut LP, With You For Ever, complete now, what forces or influences led you to sit down and create a full-length album?
Will Evans: It's a great question, and I think the answer is still the same. I think we didn't feel like we had enough material coming from the same point in time. Mostly early last year, spring last year. And we all had our own songs that we compiled. At some point we just realized, you know, that we have enough material. We should just pick a set of ten and just go with it. 'Cause we have been doing singles for a while, and we wanted to just switch it up. And I think that you're right that right now there's a lot of push against releasing albums. Spotify even tells you not to do that. I guess it makes sense if you're starting out. It doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket in that sense. But, we felt like we had the material, and it was the right move. I think, as a band, we feel that it's more of an effort moving forward. I think going to the next release we'll do another album. Going forward, just continue that path.
ZH: Going off of that, were there any songs that you recorded previously, or was everything specifically written and recorded for With You For Ever?
Nick Evans: Almost everything was recorded in the same time period. There were definitely songs that we repackaged. One, the latest single that just came out, "Best Kind of Moment", was a song of Will's—actually a demo—that had been bouncing around for a while. Will, maybe a year, over a year?
Will: That was like 2018, I think. Two years.
Nick: Oh, okay. Wow, yeah. So, that was something that we dusted off. It was kinda reworked for the record in terms of recording. I think everything else other than that… Ah, there was one more that was really old. It was one of the first songs that we wrote together when we actually started the band. "Wish I Could Stay" is the name of that track. It was funny because it was something that I wrote, and then three years later it's kinda hard to, you know, look back at something that you were working on. So, I asked Will if you wanted to work on it, and you said, "Oh yeah, I'll take a stab at it." And Will kinda took it and ran with it. It was something that we actually collaborated on the lyrics… It's actually the first song we collaborated on the lyrics. So, that's an oldie. But again, re-recorded for the record. So, definitely the production process happened in the same time period. To answer your question shortly, a mix of both worlds. But, the vast majority of songs were written in the time period.
ZH: One of the first things that really struck me about the album was the insightful—and quite frankly poetic—lyricism throughout. In that vein, I was wondering if you guys could expound upon some of the themes and motifs in With You For Ever.
Will: I think that for this album the lyric writing was very isolated. I don't think we did a lot of feedback. We have in the past. We've given feedback on lyrics and all that. But, I can think of songs that Nick wrote that I didn't really think about the lyrics until after the song was out. [Laughing] I think going forward, we all want to get to a point where we are sharing lyrics and opening up that process a bit. I guess maybe coming from a few years of just working individually and writing our own material we just got into that habit of closing the door to critique. But, I think it's something that we'll talk about changing up going forward, collaborating on songs.
Nick: I will say that we've always been quick to critique another person's lyrics if it really didn't sit well. And it would have to be pretty out there, but that didn't happen this time. So, maybe that's a positive thing. I think everyone was giving each other space. Not necessarily intentionally, but as the ball started rolling on the writing, there was a trust that kinda occurred. I was listening to lyrics—and we were working on these songs for a while together—and we just kinda all vibed. But, in terms of the themes, and one thing that I think that—back to your question [Laughing]—one thing that, it was all written around the time that we were recording. We were writing and recording at the same time. That's how, oftentimes, even in the past we've done things where the whole process comes together very quickly… or slowly. But, it's all happening usually at the same time. We'll be finishing lyrics when Will's working on the drum template and I'm actually finishing lyrics or Will's finishing lyrics and Zach's finishing lyrics but the song is actually done. The vocals just haven't been tracked yet. So, there are a lot of times when it's not a full package done. I think we were all living together, and we were all in such close quarters because of the lockdown, recording this record. We had cancelled a tour, and then the world stopped. We basically just moved our schedule up for recording. We had planned to just do it in later summer, but we moved it up because we literally couldn't do anything else, and it seemed like a safe Corona-conformed thing to do. One thing that I think definitely works into the record is this idea of collective memory. Since we grew up together and have been writing music together, I think it's something that works its way into each of the songs and is also somewhat relevant to the time period.
Will: I think all of the songs are about relationships. That's why we also named the album With You For Ever. It was funny that we came across that because it fit a lot of themes in the songs, but also fit our lifestyle being stuck together. And fit this commitment to finishing an album, which is a big endeavor for a project. So, all these things felt like they all made sense, but we also like the way the album cover has this ambiguous couple on the front. And I like that Zach pointed out that the person in the back is like a shadow, or some sort of other side to oneself that one's grappling with. So, I think that there's a lot of themes on this album to deal with internal struggles with self and also external with relationships. I think most of the songs come back down to relationships in some way, as we all go through experiences, the ups and downs of those narratives.
Nick: It's funny we were talking about the title. We spent a lot of time trying to find a title, and we had a couple different ideas and maybe three different final contenders. When we were talking about With You For Ever, I had a very different thought about it in terms of what it meant for me, and then Zach came up with a totally different [idea of] what it meant for him. Will had his own idea, too. So, we all had a different interpretation of what we had collectively decided was a good title, but we hadn't really discussed it. Then, when it came down to discussing it and we all had a different interpretation, [we realized that] maybe it was a stronger title, and went with that.
Will: Yeah, and I think that [relates to] the album thematically. Because you have three different writers, it's impossible to have a perfect cohesive package. I think that's what makes this project interesting for us: we do have to sorta try and find some overlaps, some coherence to justify calling an album an album, but also accept that that's never going to be perfect. I think that's what makes the Stray Fossa albums going forward exciting is that they have built-in variation that we can play into. We noticed that hearing back from blogs and all that. I think there are definitely people who are drawn to different writers in the band. It does feel like we have different moods or different voices or different topics to come up under different voices, which I think makes for an interesting project. Maybe something you see less often these days.
ZH: I think you guys touched on this a little bit already, but Chryum Lambert designed some striking artwork for the single and album covers, and perhaps most compelling is the way that it perfectly complements With You For Ever's distinct character. So, how did you come to collaborate with Chryum, and are there any specific connections between the art and music?
Zach: Yeah, great question. We went back and forth a lot trying to find artwork for the singles and for the album. We were wondering how to package it and how to promote it and kinda what makes sense. We stumbled across his work on Instagram, and then we made the connection that he's actually done some work for some other artists that we really love. So, we reached out and told him, "We really like your work. Here's some of our music. Would you be interested in this partnership and working together on this?" He was into the idea, which felt awesome, and we sorta ran with it. We went through a lot of his work and found ones that we thought made sense. We found this one piece in particular [and then] took some crops for the singles. Yeah, it turned out well. One of the fun things was finding certain aspects of the art that went with the singles. The newest single ["Diving Line"] I think is a great example. The artwork is just one section of the main album art that, in my opinion, goes perfectly with the song. So, that was just kinda a fun thing to work on and discover pieces within that main one.
ZH: So, this is just a bit of a personal curiosity, but how did you decide which tracks to release as singles?
Will: I guess I'll take that. We shared it with some family and friends, and you know… If I had it my way I would release every song as a single because you kinda have to do that. A single doesn't mean much of anything. It just doesn't make sense to drop five songs at once versus one, and therefore it's called a "single". But, I think the difference being that back in the pre-digital era the single was the focus track because it was the breadwinning track, and it justified the release of the rest of the songs that came with it on an LP or whatever format. I think now it's like we release songs, and we want all of our songs to have a time for people to focus on the individual songs. It came out to be a bit arbitrary as to what five or what six or so we picked. And we're probably gonna try to put out each of them as much as we can because it's just the way it works. But, we do want people to listen to it as an album. It was track-listed as an album. We put some thought into how those flow, and I think the album has two different sides to it, which makes for a great LP. [Especially on] vinyl, with the experience of flipping [it over]. I think we want people to listen to it in its entirety for the reason that we made it.
ZH: This might be a bit of an unfair question, but do each of you have a favorite song on the album, and if so, what makes it your favorite?
Nick: The second track on the record is a really good track. It's not a single, but it's a song called "Bright Ahead". That's one of these songs where… A lot of times when you're listening to your own music, you're listening very critically. I think that's something that all artists probably have in common. It takes a while to get past the stage where you know how the sausage was made and actually try to listen to it objectively. And that's a song that I got that very quickly for some reason. I'm able to just kinda lose myself in that song. So, that's definitely one of my favorites, and then the second one is a song called "Called Away Again". It's funny, that one had a different title for a long time, so I always have to remind myself. [Laughing] Another album song. I think that's a strong song. It's a departure from the other songs on the album, so it stands out a bit. It's a bit quieter, a bit softer.
Zach: For me… Nick actually stole one of my answers. I think that second track, "Bright Ahead", is really quite good. As Nick said, it didn't make it as a single quote-unquote, but I think it just has this awesome energy, and I totally second what Nick said. Will came in with a demo of that song, and I mean, we always have some feedback and some things that we'd like to work on as a band, but that was a song that really just felt like it was ready right then and there. It just needed some icing on top. It is, for me, just really easy to get lost in. I think that's a really great track, and I'm excited for people to hear it.
Will: I think I have favorite moments; I don't really have favorite songs. I like different songs for different reasons. Like, I really like how the engineering and production ended up on "Hypocritic", which is the lead-off single. Honestly, I like how the production ended up on "Something Sound", which is the album closer. Also, there are a lot of nice moments in that song 'cause they make a pretty generous use of space. But in terms of the songs in their entirety, I think "Called Away Again" maybe would be up there. It's a good departure from the rest of the album. Otherwise, I think there are pockets. Like, I really like the ending of this one song called "Much for Us". I like the ending of that a lot. You have to get to that point.
Nick: It's because of the harpsichord that you like it, right? It's the harpsichord in there. [Laughing]
Will: Yeah, I don't think that made the final version. [Laughing]
Nick: No, the harpsichord is in there.
Will: No, it did. It did.
Nick: No, it totally did.
Will: I took out the little dinky thing you put in the middle.
Nick: I would not have signed off on this record if the harpsichord didn't make it into the final cut of that track.
Zach: The harpsichord makes the whole track, the whole rhythm. [Laughing]
Will: Yeah, good question, though.
ZH: Another thing I was wondering about was did you have any specific sonic influences for this record? Like, were there any bands that you were trying to emulate or that you were listening to a lot when you were creating the album?
Zach: Will, do you want to take that?
Will: Sonic influences? Yeah. Nick and I were talking about that recently. What did we come up with? There's a band called GOON that I love so much. I think they're signed to Fat Possum, maybe. Is that right? I don't know, but they have some songs that are just beautiful, beautiful arrangements, productions. [GOON was signed to Partisan Records as of 2019, but looks like their next release will be on a different label TBD.—Zack] I have listened to them quite a bit, so they inspired us a bit. There's also a couple tracks off of Set My Heart on Fire Immediately by Perfume Genius that I find to be incredible and definitely an inspiration for the record. And then there's another band I listened to quite a bit called Spyres. Nick mentioned them. Those guys were around in like 2012, I think, 2013 or so, but the band ended. They put out a couple of EPs that I listened to just endlessly before we made that album, and I think some of that comes through, definitely in "Bright Ahead". It's kinda psych-rock but has a new-age sorta feeling to it. Do you guys have any other influences?
Zach: Yeah, I mean, I think you hit it. We do always talk about how all of us listen to a lot of different types of music, and I think it all came together to make this record sound… I don't know, I think it's hard to pigeon-hole how the record sounds, like what specific genre it is, and I like that. I think it comes from all of our different influences. Everything that Will just said plus goes into the writing and of course the production.
Nick: I don't know if Will mentioned it, but when we had that chat, we talked about Halcyon Digest, Deerhunter's record. That was something that I was listening to. That's such a fantastic record.
Will: Awesome drum sounds. I think the dream is to one day have an actual studio where we can—we have a great studio—but like one where we can just have everything ready to go, where sonically it's like all a room experience, and you're not having to screw around a little bit in the computer to make it work. And we do a lot of live recording, but it's tough when you have to troubleshoot the gear that we have. Bad latency, you know...
Zach: We make do. [Laughing]
ZH: One last general question, and I think you may have already touched on this, too, but I feel like With You For Ever is a bit of a new artistic step for you guys, so I was wondering, do you guys a have a specific direction for where you want to go creatively from this point?
Nick: That's a hard question.
Zach: I think that we see our releases as kind of moments in time, very much like a timestamp of what we're working on in that moment, things we're dealing with personally and together in that moment. At the same time, we're always looking forward to the next one. So, I think that we have already started conversations about record number two and directions that could go. And we already know that it's gonna be different in various ways. So, it's hard to tell exactly how that's gonna turn up, but I will say that I think everything that we've put out, whether it's a single or an EP or now this record, is definitely a summation of that particular time, with the knowledge that each one, each new thing, is gonna be a lot different.
Nick: We took a break from tracking—maybe like a two week break from tracking, actually—and started demoing just new stuff, and some of the stuff that came out of that we're excited about. I don't think it's like a full, total departure, but it definitely is a fresh move from With You For Ever.
Will: One of my friends from uni sort of jokingly suggested when we were trying to come up with band names that we name ourselves "Becoming Band", which is a very obscure philosophical reference [to Gilles Deleuze], but a lot of these songs that we've been putting out in many ways represent periods—like timestamps, like Zach said—in as we've been developing as or becoming musicians, as much as songwriters. I think we all felt like from the beginning we had a lot of work to do and we still have a lot to figure out in terms of honing certain skills. As those skills change, I think that gets reflected in the music we're making. It's just cool to know that you can always for a project say, "Hey, let's pick this kind of genre," or whatever. Ultimately, a lot of the sound will come back down to the confidence in the performance and the musicianship. I think that we're all developing that continuously.
Stray Fossa’s Nick Evans, Zach Blount, & Will Evans, from left to right. (PC: Anita Richardson)