Local indie rock band Synthetic Friend will release its debut EP on Jan. 16. Catching the Outlines contains four tracks written about young adult experiences of vulnerability and learning to understand oneself. It is preceded by two singles, “Nanaimo” and “Potion Seller.”
Vocalist Emma Stevens commented, “I’m really excited for this EP to come out.” They added, “I’m excited to have more music out in the world, and to also keep writing and recording music, which we’ll definitely do.”
Stevens, bassist Kaity Cummings and guitarist Aaron Simard formed the band roughly three years ago while they were in an acting course together. They expanded their lineup with the addition of drummer Tomi Lawrie and guitarist Ashton Fontaine.
Stevens is especially proud of their dynamic performance in the second track, “Renovations.” They typically sing with a noticeably soft and lilting voice, reminiscent of singers in other dreampop bands. However, the distinct chorus and outro of “Renovations” feature a stronger projection. It was inspired by old home videos of their mother (Delina Rissin), whom they recall was a talented singer with a very loud voice. Stevens achieved a similarly impressive volume by telling themself, “I’m just going to channel my mom.”
The song also addresses Stevens’ grief of having never been able to meet their uncle Todd, who passed away before they were born. The covers of the EP and singles are photographs taken by him.
“I learned so many things about him through my grandma and through my dad,” they explained. “I have no other family who was in theatre, and so it’s like I have this weird connection with this person who I’ve never met before.”
The other currently-unreleased track, “Baby, You’re My Microwave,” showcases a more comedic approach to songwriting — as the title would suggest. The microwave theme is employed as a vehicle to symbolize toxic relationships. The song’s instrumentals were written prior to the lyrics, with a riff that reminded Stevens’ bandmates of a microwave. They decided to use the comparison for lyrical inspiration. “Baby, You’re My Microwave” is also notably the first song Synthetic Friend has ever written as a group.
“It just came together, and it was so funny.” Stevens said, “I never thought that it would actually end up being a song that we continued writing or used for anything, but then it ended up being so catchy and so fun that we were like, ‘Well, we have to.’”
The songs were recorded and produced locally by Adam Fuhr at House of Wonders Records. “Potion Seller” was notably recorded in as few takes as possible, in a process inspired by tape recording. The band and Fuhr had originally planned to record the song on tape, but the machine malfunctioned. However, they chose to keep the mentality as if they were using tape anyway.
“[Recording] was eye-opening,” Stevens recalled. “You listen to music all the time, but you don’t really think about how they’re doing it.”
Follow Synthetic Friend on Instagram at @syntheticfriend.
