From a single synthesizer one can generate a seemingly endless repertoire of sounds, a fact which an equally endless amount of young bands around the world have capitalized on since the creation of that instrument. The Frail finds itself amongst this burgeoning electronic music scene, and like the genre’s luminaries, it’s a group that knows quite well how to wring a potent hook out of its synth arsenal. The trio is comprised of Daniel Lannon (vocals and synths), Israel Chavarin (bass), and Kevin Durr (synths). Their debut, LoveDeathLegend, follows two EPs, Count on This and the fittingly titled Lasers Over Lovers. LoveDeathLegend finds The Frail making a mellifluous batch of synth-driven pop tunes, enhanced in large part by Lannon’s Michael Jackson-esque vocals.
Lannon tells PopMatters about the album, “When we sat down with Patrick [Brown, producer], we decided to do something this band had never done before. In the past had always written our songs over email sending them back and forth until they were finished, so most of our songs were all written using Ableton or Logic. This time, we camped out at Different Fur studios for a few months and wrote as a live band. Everything was written on the spot until we had roughly 30 different ideas or half songs.
“Form there we narrowed it down to about 14 and really focussed on adding synths, electronic drums, vocals etc. We kept stacking different synth sounds on top of what we created ultimately ending on these rich versions that became the finals. We had been listening to a lot of Cut Copy, M83, Michael Jackson, and Miguel at the time, and I think a lot of that ended up playing a role in how the album came together.
“We also wanted to be able to bring the Bay Area music scene into the record as much as possible so were excited to have some of the guests such as Kylee from Loquat, and my childhood friend A-1 who’s been killing it.”
LoveDeathLegend is out today through Kobalt.
You can also catch the band at any of the upcoming tour dates:
August 28th – Los Angeles @ Dirty Laundry Bar
August 29th-30th – San Francisco @ The Frail Album Release Party (with Tone of Arc & Breakdown Valentine)
September 4 – San Francisco (w/Shiny Toy Guns) @ Great American Music Hall