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Fake Fever announces new LP & shares new single

By July 22, 2023No Comments

Today Fake Fever, the dream pop project of Andrew Barnes, announces its second LP, Inside The Well (due Sept. 1) and shares the first single from it, “Graveyard Shift.”

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. It can provide a quick escape or a warm blanket of comfort in times of need, but what happens when that temporary sugar rush of the past begins to corrode and fade? The longer that NYC-based singer/songwriter/producer Andrew Barnes spent in the nostalgic space that previously defined his chillwave/bedroom pop project Fake Fever, the more he felt these reflective comforts dissipate over time and found the harsh realities of the present staring back more ferociously than ever. After three years of false starts, new surroundings, band-aid ripping, chaotic experimentation, and refinement, what resulted is Fake Fever‘s highly-anticipated sophomore full length release – Inside The Well – a bittersweet breakup album through the lens of nostalgia.

“When I initially tried to piece together ideas for my 2nd album, I was hitting a wall and slowly realized that I had spent so much time over the last few years trying to recreate this essence of my childhood and my past and existing in this escapist place where I was constantly looking backwards, that I was doing a horrible job of living in the present and trying to progress, both creatively and personally.” Barnes says. “This album encompasses that sometimes-painful process of loosening the grip on the past so that you can free yourself to move forward.”
While the previous Fake Fever full length Surrogate made a splash in various online “-wave” circles during the 2020 height of isolation with its hazy, subdued trip through a lazy river of vaporwave-tinged dreams and memories, Inside The Well is a much more awake, emotional, and polished slate of pop-centric material. This 11-song, 42-minute yearning, aquatic pop journey fluidly weaves together new genre flourishes to the Fake Fever sound, ranging from shoegaze (“Autotoxemia”, “Pressure Tank”) to house (“Palace Intrigue”) to footwork (“Sozu”) to 2000s indietronica revival (“Graveyard Shift”) to drum & bass (“Canvasing”), with the chillwave ethereality (“Coral Ring”, “Sunrose”) and tape-warped melodies (“Unknowable”) that resonated with listeners on Surrogate.
“After spending most of my musical life playing guitar and drums in heavy bands, this whole avenue of creating electronic and pop music is still so new to me, even after a handful of years of doing it now. Part of the reason this album took so long to make is because I spent an equal amount of time trying to refine what I had figured out and done well kind of by accident as a total novice on the last album, and an equal amount of time trying to get away from my musical crutches that I had developed over the past few years and expand my sound with brand new techniques as a songwriter and producer that took a ton of trial and error to finally bring within reach.”
Despite the grueling nature of the journey, this patience and eagerness to learn and grow paid off. Inside The Well as a whole showcases Fake Fever with a new confidence honoring the electronic pop sounds and earworm video game bleeps of the 90s and 00s while simultaneously maintaining a creative, forward-thinking approach to blissful soundscapes and colorful, hook-laden songwriting that stand tall among Barnes’ chillwave and dream pop contemporaries.
The vertigo caused by looking down into the unknown depths of the future can often cause us to run away from the edge back towards the security of familiar pleasures and surroundings. What Fake Fever realized while finishing this shimmering new record is that these securities have an expiration date. In order to make true progress sometimes you have no other choice but to throw yourself inside.

TOUR DATES

8/24/23 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows
9/1/23 – Charleston, SC @ Cutty’s

Fake Fever
Inside The Well
(My Pet Flamingo)
Release Date: Sept 1, 2023

Track List:

1. Autotoxemia
2. Palace Intrigue
3. Coral Ring
4. Sozu
5. Graveyard Shift
6. Canvasing
7. Unknowable
8. Pressure Tank
9. Pearl
10. Healing Pattern
11. Sunrose