Modern Mores, by Friends of the Oval

Modern Mores

by Friends of the Oval

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1.	The First Rule Of Survival 04:26	buy track
2.	Listen To Reason 03:34	buy track
3.	Waiting 04:35	buy track
4.	Adventurer 04:21	buy track
5.	Karman Line 02:22	buy track
6.	Like Lidia Klement 03:21	buy track
7.	The Plan is To Hang On 03:45	buy track
8.	Seventeen Days 04:13	buy track
9.	Breaking Up (In The Atmosphere) 03:54	buy track
10.	A Walk In The Park 00:43	buy track

about

Vocalist Julia Farhat, producer David Mason and songwriter Michael Idov have collaborated on and off since 2011, primarily on film soundtracks (Idov is a screenwriter and director whose works include Palme d’Or-nominated LETO). Their electronic chamber-pop trio, Friends of the Oval, is a natural extension of that work.

Cinematic sensibilities suffuse the band’s first LP straight from the opening couplet, which evokes an illicit deal (“Leave half on the bureau, the other half on the dash”) in full noir detail. Song after song on “Modern Mores” offers indelible images and character sketches, Farhat’s alto channeling each persona with an eerie ease: an aspiring actor stuck in a service job (“Waiting”), the mother of a vanished daughter (the chilling “Seventeen Days”).

Helped along by analog-synth arpeggios and slashing live strings, this approach yields “intense, surging emotional poignancy,” per Electronic Sound’s Mat Smith, on the lead single “Adventurer”; elsewhere, a lush orchestral riff elevates “Breaking Up (In the Atmosphere)” to Serge Gainsbourg-level excess, knowingly undercut by ironic lyrics. And when FOTO strip down the arrangements and turn up the amps, on “Like Lidia Klement” and “The Plan Is to Hang On,” what’s left at the core is toothy, fuzzy electropop.

credits

released October 1, 2022

All songs sung by Julia Farhat, written by Michael Idov and produced by David Mason

Claus Højensgård - Flugelhorn/Trumpet/Horns (3, 10)
Matt Parker - Tenor Saxophone (5)
Michael Hanf - Vibraphone (9)
Yaroslav Timofeev - Piano (9)
Michael Idov - Guitar (1, 9)
David Mason - Bass, Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Synthesizers & Rhythm Machines

String arrangements by Ivan Abramov (1, 2, 4), Anya Drubich (9)
Strings: OpensoundOrchestra (1, 2, 4), Moscow Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (9)

Recorded in The Hudson Valley NY, 2021-22
Mixed by Aaron Nevezie at The Bunker Studio
Mastered by Antony Ryan at RedRedPaw Mastering
Cover artwork by Julia Farhat

Released October 1st 2022 by Temporary Tapes
TT 10 Digital

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Friends of the Oval New York, New York

Friends of the Oval are Julia Farhat, Michael Idov and David Mason.

Other Friends of the Oval: Jason Domnarski (piano), Aaron Nevezie (guitar), John Davis at the Bunker (mixing), Ivan Abramov (strings arrangement) and more ... more

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Hauntology and retrofuturism from David Mason. A must for fans of Broadcast, Burial, Belbury Poly and other bands that don't start with a B Friends of the Oval
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Perfect pop songwriting meets bedroom production meets intricate drum breaks and the occasional sax solo Friends of the Oval
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