Franc Moody have today announced details of their debut album ‘Dream in Colour’, which will be released on February 28th. The record is further previewed today alongside a video for the group’s latest disco anthem, ‘Terra Firma’. Having just completed a run of sold-out dates across Europe, Franc Moody will tour the US in December, with a UK & European tour on sale now and including a London date at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on March 5th.
A Franc Moody gig is a life-affirming experience. As a band who came up via the tight-knit warehouse rave scene of London, their performances are all about community and chaos. These hypnotic and free-form shows – members have been known to suddenly swap instruments or play keytar solos while sat on each other’s shoulders – have helped them build a cult following. Each gig feels like a gigantic house party, packed with scenes of crowd surfing, mosh pits, mass sing-alongs and chants of “MOODY! MOODY!” This is where the band feel most at home and it informs one of the many themes running through their forthcoming debut album, ‘Dream in Colour’: the experience of letting loose together.
‘Terra Firma’ previews ‘Dream in Colour’ in suitably kaleidoscopic fashion - mixing influences of house, nu-disco, rave culture and the band’s guerrilla ethos into escapist, euphoric pop. It is, too, a tribute to the very formation of Franc Moody, and the brother-like friendship between chief collaborators Ned and Jon at its beating heart. While Jon was born into a family of classical musicians and grew up on oboes, cellos and violins, Ned was musically educated by the stereo in his parents’ car, blasting old soul, 50s/60s New Orleans music, and the rock n roll sounds of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Eddie Cochran. The guys first met when part of a group of musicians who took over an abandoned warehouse in Tottenham: first throwing raucous parties, then cutting their teeth as a live outfit, and gradually articulating a more socially-conscious lyrical concern through Franc Moody’s irrepressible floorfillers.
‘Dream in Colour’, then, isn’t just about togetherness. It will also explore the way in which modern life constantly oscillates between online and offline realities; from the world we navigate inside our phones to the one we explore each day with our physiological senses. What separates our emotional experience of things like friendship, love and community online versus those we experience IRL? “Sometimes,” explains Ned, “that experience of switching between those two worlds can feel like changing from black & white to colour. We wanted to explore that phenomenon on this record.” A truly feel-good DIY success story, ‘Dream in Colour’ also perfectly encapsulates the phenomenon that is Franc Moody themselves.
Dec 3rd || Los Angeles || The Echo *
Dec 5th || San Fran || Pop Scene *
Dec 7th || New York || Zone One *
Dec 7th || New York || Zone One *
Feb 26th || Dublin || Button Factory
Feb 28th || Glasgow || Stereo
Feb 29th || Manchester || YES
March 2nd || Bristol || Fleece
March 3rd|| Brighton || Concorde 2
March 4th || Nottingham || Bodega
March 5th || London || O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
March 7th || Leeds || Belgrave Music Hall
March 11th || Amsterdam || Paradiso Noord
March 12th || Cologne || Club Volta
March 13th || Berlin || Saalchen
March 14th || Hamburg || Bahnhof Pauli
March 16th || Copenhagen || Vega Small Hall
March 20th || Paris || La Maroquinerie
March 21st || Gent || Democrazy
