JW Francis: 'Dream House'
Injecting some sunlight into the grey days that plague the start of the year, music’s happiest man JW Francis has finally released his fourth full studio album ‘Dream House’, out now on Sunday Best Recordings.
As fans of jangle-pop and the all-round good vibes provided by the New Yorker collectively rejoice, JW Francis adds another 12 tracks to his discography, spanning just over a few years; 2020’s debut effort ‘We Share a Similar Joy’ already seems like it was written generations ago.
Written and recorded at the start of 2021 in NYC, ‘Dream House’ continues to ensure that JW Francis is seen as one of the most hard-working and busy members of the community, perfecting the art of creating music that has such layered depth, yet sounds so easy on the ears.
Opening with the joyous bop that is ‘Going Home To A Party’, it feels like you’re being invited to stick your headphones on and drift away to a happier place, “we’ve come this far for you to be here / now it’s time you enjoy you” highlighting this exquisitely. ‘Casino’ further cements the injection of tempo and energy that JW Francis litters throughout the record.
JW split the creative process for ‘Dream House’ into two key themes; writing about his own life and the world around him, but crafting songs written for other people. The latter theme is particularly prevalent around the month of February when he writes valentines songs on his fans’ behalf.
“Every year, about six weeks before Valentine’s Day, I make the following post on social media: If you send me the name of your Valentine, and the reason you love them, I’ll write a song for them on your behalf… That is how ‘Dream House’ was born,” JW explains. “Over the past three years, I have received over 300 requests from fans to write songs for their loved ones. All of the songs on Dream House come from this project.”
Overall, this album is a conversation between JW and the listener, which is exactly what he would have intended. Never shy to admit his love for life and the joy he gets from meeting people, this record perfectly reflects the unique and soul-warming qualities that JW Francis has. Starting with great energy, this isn’t just indie by numbers; tracks like ‘Take Me Away’ provide a blissfully sombre contrast to the more upbeat numbers like ‘I Wanna Be Your Basketball’.
