Boston electronic-pop duo set to release white-hot new single ‘Friend’ on Friday, January 29
‘Friend’ is the first taste of new music off March’s highly anticipated new album Retroshade
BOSTON, Mass. -- This Bliss would like to send you a “Friend” request. But be warned, before you click to accept, understand one thing: The Boston electronic-pop duo of Jess Baggia and Nick Zampiello are done playing games.
“Friend,” a musical menagerie of pop that spans a genre spectrum -- classic late-’80s freestyle, alt-R&B, funk, modern electro -- is set for digital release on Friday, January 29 across all major streaming platforms. It also serves as the first taste of This Bliss’ highly anticipated new album, Retroshade, due out in March via Mint 400 Records.
“Friend,” with its whip-smart production and bulging synth riffs, spins a fresh take on an age-old tale of camaraderie: That alleged friend who shows who quickly they really are, and who just can’t be trusted.
“You know those friends you are probably better off not having?” asks Baggia. “That's what the song is about. I think we've all had that experience at some point: The person who only calls you in a crisis or is only able to talk about themselves, never having any energy left over to provide you support or even puts you down to make themselves feel better.”
Like all This Bliss releases, dating back to 2018 debut album Forensic Styles and the following year’s Dramatization of Real Events EP, the songwriting is a chemistry-fueled collaborative process between Baggia (The Shallows), and Zampiello, the Party Bois’ percussionist and producer and owner of Somerville’s New Alliance East Studio.
“‘Friend’ started with an instrumental track Nick created using his favorite approach of sequencing analog synthesizers and drum machines,” Baggia adds. “The melody wrote itself: I sat down and demoed that portion quickly, along with the lyrics. After pre-production, we had a lot of fun in the studio layering additional instrumental tracks (guitar and bass) with Danni Vitullo!”
As “Friend” zig-zags along with effortless cool, Zamipello’s synth work rolling cartwheels across the sidewalk as Baggia’s vocals tell it like it is from the stoop; the track defies genre categorization. It simply explodes out of the speakers for its entire three-and-a-half-minute duration.
“Like many musicians, we've struggled a bit with the idea that we should just represent one genre,” Baggia admits. “Our first record was more downtempo and trip-hop inspired, and as a result, we've typically been associated as such. Realistically, we have more range and are more 'pop' than anything else. That said, this new record is the best embodiment of what our 'sound' is to date -- it's cohesive but song to song you'll feel the range of energy and influences.”
That new record should arrive with a sensual fury in March.
“The instrumentation of this song is a great example of the band in general: An emphasis on electronic elements -- particularly the drum machine layers -- with content-driven melodic hooks,” says Baggia. “Retroshade is by far the best record we've created to date. It captures our genre range while remaining cohesive. It's electronic with 'modern' elements but we utilize actual analog gear and play everything ourselves as opposed to using digital plug-ins. The result is that 'throwback' feel.”
She concludes: “In general, while there is certainly some snarky attitude in the lyrical content, it's balanced by self-motivated positivity. It might be a bit cheesy, but that's an underlying theme: It doesn't matter what other people think as long as we are happy and like what we're doing -- and we really like making art!”