Byenow return with two distinct yet deeply connected singles: Are You In Love?, a dream-folk sonic hallucination, and Farewell Song, an airy ballad with a more analog soul.
To ask each other if you’re in love and then disappear, moving elsewhere — mentally or physically, it doesn’t matter. In their new double single, Byenow explore two opposite perspectives of love, a feeling that unites us all. The first track is more overtly romantic, while the second, rooted in acoustic instrumentation, embraces a universal kind of love, binding people together through a different kind of affection.
Are You In Love? is an atmospheric piece born from a tape loop of a short piano fragment. The lyrics emerged spontaneously, carried by the music’s natural flow. Any Other’s touch in the arrangement phase brought out the song's rich and colorful sonic palette. On the flip side, Farewell Song begins with the gentle strumming of a guitar in dim light. Conceived as far back as 2018, the track deals with friends moving far away, evoking the profound loneliness that only distance from loved ones can create. Here, love unfolds across its many layers, making the piece a bittersweet ode equally fitting for friends or lovers.
The interplay of piano, synths, bass and saxophones in Are You In Love? reflects the tenderness of a late afternoon in a park, when two hearts meet after a long time, trying to delicately catch up with each other's life. The production expands in all directions, yet the vocals remain a constant anchor for the listener. With its circular nature, the song builds its momentum layer after layer, the sound getting more and more immersive, picturing the scenario evoked by the lyrics with its lights and shadows.
Farewell Song, on the other hand, brings us back to reality. A warm voice paired with an acoustic guitar grounds us in a more organic and earthy musical realm, with the instrumental theme acting almost as a chorus, like a rising orange sunset. Here too, the piano and synths play a vital role, bridging two suspended verses: the first serves as an introduction, while the second swells with instruments, including Francesco Panconesi’s saxophones, building the track’s intensity before its final, poignant fade-out.
Byenow’s double single captures the journey through a profoundly human, yet often overlooked, experience: love. Are You In Love? and Farewell Song will be released on November 29th, 2024, via Spazio Dischi and Out Stack Records (Hoodooh Editions), offering a taste of their upcoming album, produced by Any Other and set to release in January 2025.