By Kevin Malton. Editor
The unwritten rule that can be the bane of a musicians life is that a recording has to be flawless. That search for a perfection that possibly doesn't exist, all the while diluting the raw energy that went into the formation of the track itself. On her stunning new single “Stone”, franxie chooses a different, far braver path. This single release kicks off with an authentically raw, exposed grand piano, recorded using a single microphone. It isn't perfectly on the grid which is why it works, and demonstrated the artist's bravery to experiment.
Rumour has it that 'Stone' has lived with franxie for a decade - she spent nearly ten years crafting and tweaking this song, experimenting with cleaner, polished, studio takes before realizing that the original, 'flawed' vocal take held the true authenticity and spirit of the track. By resisting the urge to surgically fix the imperfections, she has captured something genuinely human.
The instrumentation rises softly around the fragile piano anchor. Resisting any urges to explode into a huge, sweeping orchestral crescendo that is typical of mainstream indie-pop "sad songs," “Stone” opts for a quiet, restrained alt-folk landscape. The bass and electric guitar adds a wide, ambient atmosphere that floats behind the main performance, ironically, to perfection. The genius here really does belong to the production. Nothing aggressively forces emotion; no predictable beat drop signals the climax. Instead, it uses restraint to let proceedings sneak up on you. Think of the spacious, hypnotic magic of Spoon's "Inside Out," but stripped down to a stark, organic acoustic core.
Lyrically, 'Stone' hits like an absolute gut punch. The words detail the moment when trying to hold your life together becomes more painful than just letting go. Because franxie wrote this a decade ago, there is a fascinating double-perspective at play. You can hear the younger songwriter drowning in the weight of her world, but the mature artist producing the final mix breathes a subtle, hopeful light through the cracks.
Following up on past singles like “Fucking Around” and “Nobody’s Home”, “Stone” marks a massive evolution for franxie. It is proof that sometimes the best way to move forward is to stop running, sit with the heavy things, and let the music speak for itself.
franxie is an independent alt-folk artist from Wollongong, Australia. Her catalogue is full of emotionally charged, self-produced music that toys with your emotions to different degrees. franxie is clearly a talented songwriter and there is something quite poignant about her will to revisit older songs, and a clear confidence that her writing, whether it was from a decade ago or more recent, deserves a platform.
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