“It’s A Triumphant Record!” Folly Group Speak Out
Inescapable, all-consuming and borderless, the sound of post-punk / art-rock outfit Folly Group refuses to stagnate, or even just sit still for one second. Following in the footsteps of modern artistic guitar bands such as Squid and Black Country New Road, the London outfit are also fusing influences from every corner of the sonic platte with hints of jazz, dance and dub all featuring throughout their debut album ‘Down There!’.
Out now, the new LP is simultaneously insular and expressive, reaching to the depths of angst-ridden melancholia and the heights of acid-trip ecstasy. With their blend of hypnotically vibrant percussive rhythms, artistic flair, poetic lyricism and direct vocal deliveries they build up a hugely layered soundscape that you can easily find yourself getting lost in.
With one of the most highly anticipated records of the year, Folly Group are about to embark on a momentous journey in 2024. Clash dared to find out more.
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Do you feel your songwriting approach has developed since your debut singles in 2021?
Like too many other bands, we formed immediately before lockdown. That meant we trained ourselves to write remotely, living separately, on a kind of virtual production line, on which ideas were constantly being passed from one member to another and back, constantly evolving.
One pitfall is it’s hard to know when something’s done given the power to tweak endlessly, but I think we got pretty well-oiled in this way of working. It’s continued to make sense to work this way around full-time work and other life responsibilities, but we daydream about going somewhere remote and getting incredibly in the weeds writing non-stop, all four of us, for a couple of weeks, some point in the future.
How do you feel this forced method of songwriting influenced the record?
For this album, the writing process was a mixture of demos on various laptops, studio sessions and coming up with ideas whilst on tour but the recordings of the album were all done at Louis’s workplace after hours throughout the week. It definitely felt like the songs became what they are today within that period of time.
Can you explain the decision behind the album title ‘Down There!’?
It’s an attempt to verbally tie in with this clumsy metaphor that pervades every track; feeling under the weight of the world, which is to say, under the ground. It’s meant to be a kind of exclamation by someone else, a friend of ours or maybe someone listening, who spotted us after we effectively vanished for 18 months to balance making this thing with work, relationships and all the rest.
What would you say are the main themes running throughout the record?
Paranoia, drudgery, despondency, powerlessness. Conversely, it’s a triumphant record. It conceptualises itself, in a way; it exists despite all that going on, and we’re incredibly proud of that.
What are you hoping for people to take away from ‘Down There!’?
As a band we don’t have any set out experiences we would like the listener to have. It would be nice if everyone could take away something different from different parts of the album and make it personal to them. Having said that, being a band with quite a wide range of musical influences, it would be amazing if people find something that they recognise and can relate to whilst listening.
What would you say is the perfect environment to listen to the album in?
Wherever you feel comfortable. But preferably underground.
Why did you feel ‘Big Ground’ was the perfect album opener?
Having ‘Big Ground’ as the opener felt like we were stating our intentions for the rest of the album. The gang vocals that open the song kind of have a jump scare effect and the energy of the track in general with all the drums and percussion that make a chaotic groove heavy song is pretty much what we are all about.
Which track on the album best epitomises the project as a whole?
For the reasons in the previous question, ‘Big Ground’ is definitely a worthy challenger for the title. From the way the song was written to how it sounds and the process that we went through is a culmination of each member of the band putting their own personal stamp on the song which in a wider sense is the way we approach anything Folly Group does… Collaboration.
Talking of collaboration, you each have quite differing musical influences, how do you feel this blend of personalities has impacted your sound?
It’s extremely helpful for us to all be into different things when it comes to writing music. There is so much to be learnt from each other’s individual tastes, Folly Group is the product of taking these influences and moulding something out of it.
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‘Down There!’ is out now.
Words: James Booton
