Support our efforts, sign up to a full membership!
(Start for free)
Register or login with just your e-mail address
Pop / Rock 20/10/2022

NYC-French Duo Frenchy And The Punk Preview 'Zen Ghost' With Latest Siouxsie-Esque Single 'Come In And Play'

Hot Songs Around The World

Water
Tyla
306 entries in 20 charts
Stick Season
Noah Kahan
313 entries in 19 charts
Houdini
Dua Lipa
285 entries in 26 charts
Strangers
Kenya Grace
442 entries in 24 charts
Lovin On Me
Jack Harlow
293 entries in 22 charts
Popular
Weeknd, Playboi Carti & Madonna
266 entries in 18 charts
Lose Control
Teddy Swims
316 entries in 25 charts
Beautiful Things
Benson Boone
159 entries in 24 charts
Si No Estas
Inigo Quintero
283 entries in 17 charts
Greedy
Tate McRae
621 entries in 28 charts
Unwritten
Natasha Bedingfield
291 entries in 22 charts
Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
615 entries in 23 charts
Cruel Summer
Taylor Swift
572 entries in 20 charts
Snooze
SZA
223 entries in 13 charts
New York, NY (Top40 Charts) NYC-based postpunk duo Frenchy and the Punk has released 'Come In and Play', an upbeat Siouxsie-esque delight and the second enchanting single from their forthcoming 'Zen Ghost' album. Their seventh long-player record, this will be released via the EA Recordings label on October 28.

Frenchy and the Punk is vocalist, percussionist and lyricist Samantha Stephenson and guitarist-composer Scott Helland, who was co-founder and bassist of Outpatients and also Deep Wound (along with Dinosaur Jr. founders J Mascis and Lou Barlow). Influenced by The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Blondie, Concrete Blonde and The B52's, the duo thrive in their trademark blend of post-punk and dark folk music.

About 'Come In and Play', Samantha Stephenson says, "I was named after the character in Bewitched. My mom was a fan of the show. It sparked a curiosity and enthusiasm for all things mystical and magical from an early age. I could be quite solitary and eventually dove into a meditation practice. That feeling of going inward and exploring the inner workings of the esoteric realm always felt very comforting."

Earlier, the band released the lead track 'Mon Souvenir', an unapologetically new wave nugget, propelled by chugging acoustic chords, that reflects the album's central theme of transcending 'mind phantoms' - the experiences from the past that linger within all of us.

Dark times make for dark songs. 'Zen Ghost' was written and recorded during the downtime of 2020-2021. Here, the duo's shadowy sound takes an even darker turn. An inward spin, into the pair's previously unexplored personal planes and interpretations of the insanity of our increasingly tumultuous age. But despite its more pronounced moodiness, like the rest of the band's oeuvre, 'Zen Ghost' offers plenty of opportunities to dance in the darkness.

Tapped as one of the Top 25 duos in the US by Yahoo! Music, the freewheeling pair has released numerous recordings, including the acclaimed albums 'Happy Madness' (2010), 'Hey Hey Cabaret' (2012), 'Elephant Uproar' (2013), 'Cartwheels' (2014), 'Bonjour Batfrog' (2014), and 'Hooray Beret' (2019).

French-born, but raised in the UK and USA, Stephenson's study of piano and dance ignited her eventual rejection of corporate conformity and fueled a quest to lead a truly autonomous life through art and music. A son of jazz-loving teachers, Helland grew up in Western Massachusetts and was a vital player on the region's fertile early hardcore punk scene.

Helland and Stephenson met in NYC in 1998, when Stephenson spontaneously jumped on stage to accompany Helland during his solo guitar performance. The artistic union was immediate, powerful and undeniable. The two began to tour with fevered zeal, turning heads with their striking aesthetic, steadily building fervent fans on the mystical-folk/steampunk festival, coffeehouse, convention, and club circuits with their boisterous, revival-like live shows.

Since then, they've performed live with Dead Can Dance's Peter Ulrich and Dresden Dolls' Brian Viglione, and opened for Thomas Dolby, Dinosaur Jr., The World Inferno Friendship Society, Rasputina, Cruxshadows, Hurray For The Riff Raff and The Young Dubliners.

'Come in and Play' is now out everywhere, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp, where 'Mon Souvenir' can also be found. The 'Zen Ghost' album will be released on October 28 and is available for pre-order digitally via Bandcamp and on CD via the band's website.

"Explosive, subdued, confrontational, soothing, spikey, and accessible, an incredible blend of alt-rock shade and alt-folk light" ~ Big Takeover Magazine
"Penetrating psych-soaked post-punk... Brimming with their signature cinematic drama and that unforgettable voice" ~ Global Texan Chronicles
"Bombastic... a happy medium between the sonic atmosphere and thoughtful melancholy of post-punk music and the unmistakable drama of cabaret... as beautifully manic as some of the finest artists on America's early punk' scene" ~ Amplify Music Magazine
"An inspiriting slice of post punk hued, new wave nurtured rock 'n' roll... under the skin and hungrily stirring the imagination in a flash" ~ Top40-Charts.com

All songs written by Samantha Stephenson and Scott Helland
Samantha Stephenson - lyrics, lead vocal, percussion, keyboard
Scott Helland - guitar, bass, drums, backing vocals
Jason Sarubbi - upright bass on 'Church of Sound'
Braxton Bellew - additional electric bass on 'Church of Sound'
Recorded and mixed by Jason Sarubbi at Split Rock Studios, New Paltz, NY
Mastered at The Cage, Coventry UK by Martin Bowes
Cover photo by Alice Teeple
Pen and ink drawings by Scott Helland
Album cover design by Scott Helland and Samantha Stephenson

TRACK LIST
1. Mon Souvenir
2. Temple of Sleep
3. If the World Doesn't End First
4. Gear Geist
5. Church of Sound
6. Come In and Play
7. Paradise Found
8. Blood
9. Oxygen
10. I'll See You Again

TOUR DATES:
Oct 08 Poughkeepsie, NY - Gallery 40
Oct 15/16 Shepherdstown, WV - Shepherdstown Fae Festival
Oct 22 Nyack, NY - Prohibition River Live
Oct 28 Baltimore, MD - FaerieCon
Dec 2 Camden/London - Black Heart (with Beyond Victoria & Flesh Tetris)
Dec 10 Exeter, UK - Yule Ball
Feb 4/5 Manchester, CT - Stupid Cupid Steampunk Festival
Feb 18/19 Gettsyburg, PA - MythiCon Festival
April 01 Galveston, TX - Galveston Steampunk Festival
April 8-9 Baltimore, MD - Between The Worlds
April 15/16 Chicago, IL - Chicago Steampunk Expo.






Most read news of the week


© 2001-2024
top40-charts.com (S4)
about | site map
contact | privacy
Page gen. in 0.8025961 secs // 4 () queries in 0.0068972110748291 secs


live