NEIL FRANCES feels Fuzzy

NEIL FRANCES feels Fuzzy: Los Angeles indie-dance duo NEIL FRANCES‘ Jordan Feller and Marc Gilfry met years ago while both were working on other projects.

“I produced a song for his previous band,” says Feller. “We then happened to re-connect when I moved to L.A. in 2016. We were both looking to do something new so I sent him some demos I’d been working on with the intention of having someone else sing them and put them out. When we shared the songs we’d written with some friends they gave us positive feedback, with one friend in particular sharing the songs with Chris Douridas at KCRW. To our complete surprise Chris played one of the songs on the radio and the rest is kinda history.”

They describe their sound today as, “Fuzzy and for the weekend.” That’s perfectly appropriate, given that their new album is called It’s All a Bit Fuzzy.

“The album was recorded over the past 12 months,” says Feller. “Our initial idea was to release an album with all collaborations. It didn’t quite work out like that but there’s quite a few songs on the record featuring other artists. We’re quite selective about who we work with, and we’re also very lucky to be able to work with artists we’re big fans of. Both Marc and I love dreamcastmoe’s music and have been fans for quite a while. Same goes for PawPaw Rod, St Panther and DRAMA.”

“We reverse-engineered the overarching album concept after seeing Angela Bacher’s art for the first time,” adds Gilfry. “I stumbled across it on instagram and immediately was captivated. It has this cute but sinister thing going on with fuzzy little figures / animals that are warm and inviting but also there’s just something behind the eyes that’s slightly off-putting, in the best way. Angela’s art is quite literally ‘all a bit fuzzy.’ I started thinking about how that phrase relates to the feeling of being in a proper night club… like the warm tingly feeling of being in that space and partaking, if you will, in a good “cocktail”. But it also relates to the morning after. The album speaks to a long night out with your friends and then the subsequent, hungover and ‘fuzzy’ day on the couch, which, for me, can sometimes be just as rewarding. I treasure that day inside: watching movies, ordering takeout, being with my loved ones. That’s why the TV has been a big aesthetic touchstone for this album cycle and for our current tour.”

On November 4, the pair plays a hometown headline show at Novo.

“It will be our biggest headlining show yet, and a hometown show,” says Gilfry. “Have nothing but the highest expectations. You won’t want to miss it. We have an amazing team on tour right now doing some of the best production work I’ve seen in quite a while. We’re gonna bring it big time.”

Looking ahead, the pair has plenty planned for the rest of 2023 going into 2024.

“On the touring side we’re very excited to be playing Corona Capital in Mexico City,” says Heller. “We’re also in the process of putting together a remix package of some of the songs on the album which we can’t wait to release. There’s going to be some rippers in there.”

NEIL FRANCES feels Fuzzy: NEIL FRANCES’ It’s All a Bit Fuzzy album is out now via Nettwerk. They play Novo on Saturday, November 4.