Foley are a duo hailing from Aotearoa, and have been releasing a string of beautifully crafted pop singles recently. They have a fresh euphoric sound, drenched in feel good sonics that has had them winning a legion of new fans of late.
When their earlier single “Coffee” came across our inbox earlier this year, it was played on repeat, and we added it to our Discovery playlist. “Tongue” is their latest release, and highlights the versatility of the band. Again, it features the gorgeous vocals of Ash Wallace and beautifully creative produciton. Each release from Foley sounds like a meticulously cut, finely polished diamond.
About the release, the duo writes: “‘Tongue’ is a playful take on surface level relationships – where we love the idea of someone but can’t trust them when it comes down to it. You can’t put your finger on what doesn’t feel right, and you get caught up in the allure of the unknown.”
The track was recorded with their long-term collaborator, Josh Fountain (BENEE, Ruel). Fans of Remi Wolf, Tove Lo and BENEE should find much to love here. But honestly, if you like well crafted, uplifting, fun pop music, this is going to be your vibe.
The duo are getting close to the release of their debut album, Crowd Pleaser. They have been rewarded with the prestigous title of Spotify EQUAL ambassadors, which resulted in a billboard in Time Square (WOW!).
Taking stock of these recent highlights, the band has shared with the AU their reflections on the making of their latest single; what they’ve learned about themselves in the process and more. Read on!
Foley share four memories of making their new single, “Tongue”
We wrote this song with our longtime friend Josh Fountain, who we’ve worked with over the years and who produced many of our very first tracks! The session had been a long time coming so when we got into the room we were all energised and wanted to write something that felt powerful, saucy and lighthearted all at the same time.
We were trying to capture a playful take on a surface level relationship. Usually these are portrayed as negative and dangerous, but there’s a certain power in just accepting that sometimes people aren’t good for each other – and yet can have a lot of fun moments together too. It’s a love affair at the surface-level, just keeping the fun going as long as you want.
In the morning before we’d even got into the studio, Josh had whipped up that genius vocoded part: the “Ba da da”s. I remember going down the rabbit hole trying to find the correct syllable for that part – was it “la”? Or “Da”? Was it percussive enough? How would it fit into the rest of the lyrics? In the end the original came out on top! Sometimes the most natural part is best. A friend of mine complimented me by saying “I’m glad you didn’t do that melody with horns”. Didn’t have the heart to tell him there’s horns under there in the mix too!
The resulting track is a really beautiful demonstration of how we’ve all grown artistically over the years, you can hear elements of the initial tracks we did together – but now we’re older, wiser and spiced up for the Crowd Pleaser era! Josh’s production has always been amazing but now has all these oddities and super interesting left-of-field ideas from all the artists he’s worked with around the world now. So so cool.
“Tongue” is out now. Their debut album, Crowd Pleaser, will be released on the 25th August.
You can keep up to date with Foley via their Website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
