“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
French for Rabbits – the New Zealand-based, ethereal dream-pop project helmed by singer-songwriter Brooke Singer – are sharing “The Outsider,” the delicate and warm third single to be released from the group’s forthcoming album, The Overflow, on September 24th. The song follows on the heels of LP standouts: “Ouija Board” and the titular-track, “The Overflow.”Speaking on the origins of the song, Singer writes, “I wrote ‘The Outsider’ in the USA in 2019 with Marc Orrell (Dropkick Murphys) and Brooke Johnson. I’d been invited by a friend to a party not long after I landed in Los Angeles – a swimming pool, palm trees, musical heroes of mine (who were, of course, actually just lovely, interesting people). I’m quite a shy person, and the culture shock of coming into this from my normally quiet life in Wellington was real! The song is about being that introvert at a party, inhibitions and trying to fit in.”
The music video for “The Outsider,” just one of four films produced for the album, was shot in Christchurch, NZ, and was co-directed by Singer and her good friend and collaborator, Martin Sagadin, while Julian Vares handled the cinematography.
Singer, writing on her aesthetic inspiration for the video, recalls “…[we] wanted the film to have a 90s American movie aesthetic. My mum and I went searching out a street to film on, and came across this beautiful tree lined street. We also staked out the street the day before filming, trying to figure out when the street lights turned on, because I had an idea for a shot where as I walked past the street light…it would turn on. That turned out to be far too hard – but we did it with a candle instead in one of the shots.”
Together French For Rabbits 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.
Their forthcoming new album The Overflow is due out November 12, 2021 via AAA Records (AUS/NZ) in conjunction with Reckless Yes (UK) and A Modest Proposal (Italy).