Aotearoa/ New Zealand duo Foley, composed of Ash Wallace and Gabriel Everett have released their highly anticipated debut album Crowd Pleaser. This album showcases their growth and confidence as artists, managing to encapsulate feelings of euphoria, nostalgia and comfort within their dynamic release.
Their album Crowd Pleaser is a sleek pop production that is both uniquely distinct and undeniably a crowd pleaser. The album is bold and confident, certain to be an audience favourite. The album explores themes of relationships and the nuances of human interactions. The lead song, “What Got Into You” interestingly focuses on the idea of rumours and their rapid escalation into chaos. In relation to their lead song “What Got Into You”. Foley says:
“One little whisper can circulate and cause a huge story to erupt, that does more damage than you ever expected. That swell to chaos happens quickly, even if someone didn’t have bad intentions and isn’t usually the type to gossip. ‘What Got Into You’ explores an unravelling where a rumour gets away from you and takes on a life of its own.”
Foley’s expanding catalogue hasn’t been without its share of accolades. With nominations at the Aotearoa Music Awards and the APRA Silver Scrolls, on top of their numerous supporting performances for artists like Tove Lo, Remi Wolf and Still Woozy, they’ve solidified their presence with an impressive track record. Their ascent has been energising and motivating, with five Top 10 tracks on the New Zealand Pop Radio Charts empowering the duo to elevate their craft. Now signed with Nettwerk under a global deal, Foley is poised to make an even greater impact on international audiences.
Foley’s guide to navigating adulthood & growing as songwriters
To mark the occasion of their new release, Foley has taken a moment to open up about the process of crafting their debut album. They’ve shared how this experience has not only deepened their creative partnership but has also enriched their personal bond as friends and individuals. Crowd Pleaser, an album that traverses a myriad of emotions that come with navigating life and love, has brought Ash Wallace and Gabe Everett, the songwriters, even closer as creative forces.
In thinking about the album, Foley has shared with us a six point guide to navigating this period, and what they learned in making the album.
1. Emotions are universal
It sounds so simple, but emotions are universal! Everyone’s going through roughly the same thing that you are, and are just trying to do their best with the cards that there’s been given. It’s totally fine to take your time. Figuring things out there’s no rush, and there’s no right way of doing things. Just enjoy yourself and figure things out as best you can! You don’t have to solve every problem.
2. Shifting goalposts
Every single time you achieve one of your goals, the goalposts will shift! Try to really take and appreciate every moment and to look back and see how far you’ve come. Some of the things we’ve achieved and experienced. We wouldn’t have even been able to dream of when we first started out this project, so making sure we celebrate and get as much joy out of those achievements is key.
3. Friendships that last
Friends come and go but the right ones will find you, no matter what. No relationship turns out like he predicts, and he’ll be surprised with the people that come in and out of your life. There’s so many people who love the same things that you do so just dive into expressing yourself!
4. Fearlessly push the boundaries
Making the record has really developed us as songwriters on top of learners. We are no longer afraid to push the boundaries and explore every single idea, whether or not it sounds like a good idea in the first place.
When we first started the project, both of us were completely green on how to write a pop song, so a lot of the tracks we wrote stuck pretty close to the traditional guidelines. Now that we’ve got a further grasp on our craft, we can be a bit more experimental and tinker with the intricacies of pop music, which is what we set out to do when we started Foley!
5. The expansion of vision
As artists we’ve also developed a whole lot, visually, really expanding, our fashion and style horizons to new heights. We were lucky enough to work with amazing stylists across the project – Estelle and Orion – who took our dreams and creativity and turned it into something that we could feel comfortable in, and that also embodied the themes and emotions of Crowd Pleaser!
6. Collaboration is key!
I think if we come much better collaborators both within Foley, and also externally. We’ve always been really keen on collaboration, but we distinctively set out to get as many creative inputs on Crowd Pleaser as possible, and create a body of work that everyone who contributed on felt proud of. From the creative direction, to the videos, to the producers and behind-the-scenes photographers, we endeavour to allow everyone to share their own version of what Crowd Pleaser meant to them, and found that it reflected in the project beautifully.
This collaborative ethos is evident in their music video for “What Got Into You”, where Foley teamed up with director Tom Grut. The video is a captivating blend of chaos and mesmerising visuals that align with the song’s core themes and ideas.
FOLEY 2023 LIVE SHOWS
The release of ‘Crowd Pleaser’ comes ahead of their Australian debut at BIGSOUND 2023 and New Zealand’s biggest festival Rhytmn & Vines. The rest of their year is looking busy with numerous live shows lined up which you can check out below.
Saturday 26 August – Real Groovy – AUCKLAND NZ
Thursday 31 August – NZ Fashion Week – AUCKLAND NZ
Tuesday 5 September – Friday 8 September – BIGSOUND – BRISBANE AU Tickets
Saturday 28 October – Sunday 29 October – Manawatu Food and Wine Festival – MANAWATU-WHANGANUI NZ
Friday 29 December – Rhythm & Vines Festival Mainstage – GISBORNE NZ Tickets
Crowd Pleaser from Foley is out now. You can give Foley a follow on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify and Twitter.
Header Image Credit: Frances Carter
