Album Review: Hi Frisco - Goodbye, Blue Monday

Hi Frisco’s weird and wonderful debut album Goodbye, Blue Monday was released last week and illustrates the promise of the duo. Lyricist Henry Eastham and producer Felix Rashman make an intriguing combination, two great minds combining to make even greater songs. The album takes you on a journey from the opening and title song ‘Goodbye, Blue Monday’ to the closing song, a reprise and a bookend to the whole adventure.

The title song is masterful. It is melancholic without being sad, rolling without feeling unnecessarily slow and peaceful without being at all slow. The calming vocals are a perfect start to this psychedelic album. The second song ‘Quiet Lights’ is much more energetic with its open sounds and carefree feel.

The following song ‘Gold’ walks a fine line between rock and pop. The crashing cymbals give it vitality and an energy that far outstrips any of the other songs on the album. It’s quirky but in an endearing way that makes it more rather than less appealing as a song. 

‘Holiday’ and ‘The War’, although vastly different in their topics are similarly eccentric. They are perfect examples of the weird vibes that Felix says the band strive to reach in their songs. Everything has been thrown at these two, making it practically criminal to call them boring or to try and pigeon hole them into any particular category.

One of the final tracks ‘Headspin’ is slow and sultry, demonstrating the vast breadth of talent that this band have between them. None of their tracks can be grouped together because they are all wholly individual meaning that the album is full of excitement from start to finish. 

The closing track ‘Goodbye, Blue Monday (reprise) is probably the most intriguing of the lot. It is the opening track played slowly in reverse giving it a fairy tale feel. It combines the calmness of the opening track with the unsettling feeling of it being in reverse making it frankly impossible to describe accurately in just one word but if you had to find a word it would be intoxicating.

After having hinted at plans to release a second album before the end of 2021, Hi Frisco are a band to keep an eye on. With a bit more refinement they really could be a force to be reckoned with. 

Read our interview with Hi Frisco here.

Words: Amelia Dinsdale