Alt-pop duo Bestfriend’s “places I’ve left” EP out April 21st | EP Release Party tonight in Toronto
April 21, 2023 BY Jason Currell
Canadian alt-pop duo Bestfriend, comprised of Stacy Kim (vocals/instrumentals) and Kaelan Geoffrey (vocals/production), will release their sophomore EP places i’ve left via Nettwerk. places i’ve left was mixed by Grammy-nominated Travis Ference (Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift) mastered by Brock McFarlane (Luna Li, Mother Mother) & Elisa Pangsaeng (GRAE, Yukon Blonde). Tonight, the band will celebrate the EP with a release party at The Garrison in Toronto. It also serves as their first ever live show together.
Bestfriend’s 6-track EP places i’ve left is a sonically fuzzy, indie daydream boosted by whip-smart lyricism relating to nostalgia, growing up, and the constant battle of getting your shit together. Raw and unreserved, and often feeling like a punch in the gut, places i’ve left has Bestfriend channeling emotional confessions of life’s uncertainties and their own bittersweet observations of quarter-life disillusions. For Stacy and Kaelan, this collection of songs has allowed them to express themselves as both artists and human beings. As we know, the process is always on-going, but they’ve made great strides in the habitual pursuit of dancing to the beat of their own drums.
Bestfriend reveals this of their new EP,
“The places sister EPs (‘places i’ve lived’ and now, ‘places i’ve left’) are a set of love letters to a past life; your childhood home, your first love, the very specific feeling of being young in the summer, at a party or out with friends when you’ve got a paper due the next day. The anxiety simmering just underneath your skin that feels almost biologically ingrained into your generation ‘places i’ve lived’ was a retrospective glance into this life: ‘This is what happened. This is how it felt. This is why it felt that way. This is what I did.’ ‘places i’ve left’ asks: ‘What now? What do I do with everything that happened? How do we move forward from here?’”
The new offering and folkie opener, “PLACES,” bridges the gap between Bestfriend’s debut EP places i’ve lived and now this new EP. While places i’ve lived reflected on in-the-moment agony and angst, the places i’ve left EP provides a comforting second act to that narrative. “PLACES” guides listeners towards a new journey into this more contemplative universe. Bestfriend shares, “We started writing ‘PLACES’ while we were writing the first EP. It’s gone through a lot of different iterations and changes, different shifts in sound and atmosphere, growing with us as a track from the very beginning. Through all these changes, though, one thing remained the same: we wanted ‘PLACES’ to sound like the opening of a film and being at the beginning of something new while still being held by a comfortable kind of familiarity.”
“LEMON LIME,” the first single off places i’ve left, is handled with the care of Stacy’s alluring yet commanding vocals floating on top of Kaelan’s mastery work of swirling, magnetic synths. The intuitive lyrics “I wanna die but only for a year / At least until the smoke clears” is brimming with relevance amongst a generation of young folks trying to find their way in a seemingly lost world.
The immediately danceable and aptly titled, “Anxious People,” is a panic-driven pop song about all of us huddled together, trying to figure out what to do with the panic, and the feeling of staying in place while it happens. “Anxious People” is a meticulously crafted slice of heavenly dream-pop, navigated by lo-fi, fuzzy instrumentation alongside Stacy’s despondent yet expressive vocals. The “Anxious People” music video features both eccentric and sci-fi visuals chronicling daily life’s mundane activities in an infinite loop.
The killing-you-softly lament “Matador” is about navigating the breakdown of a toxic relationship while navigating mental health struggles and addiction, and the people in your life who deal with you on your worst days. Chilled-out antidote, “Tuesday Waltz,” is a song filled with hope for tomorrow. It’s written from the perspective of someone who has been going through a really hard time but decided that, for tonight, no one has to worry about them.
Closing track, “Love Always Came So Easy For You,” is a song about someone who will always have one foot out the door. Although not written about anyone specific, the song alludes to those people who never seem to be able to make up their minds about how they feel or where they want to be.
Leading up to the release of the places i’ve left EP, Bestfriend has garnered acclaim from Alternative Press, Under The Radar, Ones To Watch, Exclaim!, Sweety High, Georgia Straight, NYLON Manila, The Luna Collective, Unclear Magazine, Unpublished Magazine, SHEESH, and more as well as landing spots on Spotify’s New Music Friday (CA), Lorem, indie pop & chill, Bedroom Pop, Lemonade, All New Indie, softly, Indie All Stars, and borderless playlists.
For more information and to purchase tickets for Bestfriend’s EP Release Party at The Garrison, please visit:
https://www.ticketweb.ca/event/bestfriend-ep-release-party-with-the-garrison-tickets/13062125?pl=MODO-LIVE
places i’ve left EP is available at all digital retailers here: https://bestfriend.ffm.to/placesiveleft
“PLACES” visualizer available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89fca6mW8Ik
places i’ve left EP Tracklist:
1. PLACES
2. LEMON LIME
4. Matador
5. Tuesday Waltz
6. Love Always Came So Easy For You
