REVIEW: Courtney Farren Faces Her “Fears” with a Sense of Humor
☆ BY jessica battisti ☆
FINDING THE HUMOR IN YOUR ANXIETIES IS NO EASY FEAT ー but musician and multi-talented creative Courtney Farren conveys this with natural ease on her newest single, “Fear.”
The single, which dropped May 31, is the most recent of her latest releases contributing to her upcoming debut album, Punchlines, including “I’m Not Alone (I’m Lonely),” “Last Seen in New York,” and the collaborative effort “Together Together” with her partner and fellow musician, BØRNS. Although each single has a unique storyboard, from adolescent summer nights in California to a moody NYC alleyway, “Fear” is able capture both dark and light with its dreamy indie-pop production and existential lyricism.
Regarding the conception of “Fear,” Farren explains the idea behind the song, like her other recent singles, has been a work in progress for the past year and a half.
“I was trying to think of the things that maybe I hadn’t covered, like, writing and I just feel like I was experiencing a lot of anxiety within the world,” Farren says. “Fear was just something that interested me. Like what is this ‘fear’ that’s driving these feelings?”
Farren, the San Francisco Bay area native who has moved around more times than she can count, began taking music lessons in her early childhood and has been writing and expanding on her craft for over the past decade. The Irish and Filipina-American musician has pulled influence from a variety of different places, including Modest Mouse, Gwen Stefani, Irish folk music and the classic sounds of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Sonically, “Fear” begins with anxiety-inducing chopped vocals and vocal layering littered throughout that broadly resembles questioning ones-self and the wooziness of overthinking. However, the song has a contrasting upbeat, youthful and dreamy production style that is reminiscent of something from Phoebe Bridger’s Punisher. The combination of both of these elements encapsulates the existential dread of being a young adult and the driving force that anxiety has over someone trying navigate the world and themselves.
However, Farren didn’t necessarily intend for the production to give off the anxious feeling the lyrics convey. With the song often being compared to “a circus,” “head-spinning carnival” and even “a panic attack,” Farren instead wanted the opposing elements of the track to convey a sense of humor, much like a coping mechanism for fear.
“To keep hope and to keep humor are two very difficult things, especially in our current landscape of getting inundated with world news all the time,” Farren says. “I especially feel for young people as their brains are developing and trying to process these things.”
The artist, now permanently based in East Los Angeles, opens up about some of her own personal fears and perspectives behind the track.
“I really feel like one fear roots within a person and can guide a lot of the ways that they speak, act and orient themselves with other people,” Farren says. “I’ve always thought a fear of mine was being forgotten or discarded.”
Farren expands on the subject, relating it to her artistic expression as a musician.
“I have a lot of love for putting music out and sharing this side,” Farren says. “I also have these fears of this element of it just being forgotten about. I think that is a core fear that has played big parts in my life and how it’s integrated itself into my actions.”
However, now that Farren has entered her late twenties, her growth has lead her to adapt to her fears. This maturity, combined with Farren’s signature witty sense of humor, presents a track that conveys a sense of self-reflection on one’s own lack of self-assurance. She sings, “I can’t believe I don’t know myself better by now / It’s embarrassing / So priceless I’m like this / It’s been decided I act from / Fear, fear / How did I get here?”
Farren’s music video for “Fear,” also released May 31, captures the headspining surrealism and humorous underlying tone of the song itself. Wanting something to juxtapose her video for “I’m Not Alone (I’m Lonely),” which showcases the artist running around L.A in true freespirited fashion, Farren decided to shoot “Fear” completely isolated. Inspired by surrealist short films and elements pulled from French filmmaker Man Ray, the hazy black and white video is pleasantly bizarre, with magic 8 balls, chicken clocks and Farren representing her mind’s own anxious secretary scrambling for answers, all unfolding in a wood-panneled dingy basement reminiscent of Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter cover.
The cover of the track, also in black and white and featuring the same Man Ray inspired facial gems from the video, showcases Farren staring into the camera in fighting position, dressed in a business suit and boxing gloves. A true lover of vintage fashion and expressive silhouettes, Farren took inspiration from the powerful women in her life and the barriers they have broken, applying the same attitude to her own experience in the music industry.
“I fought through the voices in this industry, specifically against women and how women are spoken to,” she says. “I’m ready to fight for everybody’s ability to just express themselves, how they want to be seen, how they want to be heard. Everyone of all ages deserves that ability, so I’ll try my best.”
Since the release of her most recent project, Rabbit King, in 2023, Farren is prepared more than ever to release her first full length project. Wanting to challenge those suggesting she wait to release a full record, Farren sees it as a benchmark of her progress as an artist.
“I’ve lived a lot of experiences within that year and a half since that project came out, so it feels very gratifying to be in this place about to release this project and get to see this kind of growth,” Farren says.
As Punchlines nearly approaches, Farren wants listeners to keep themselves in mind when they listen to the upcoming album. She warned that not every song will be as humorous as “Fear.”
In regards to how Farren has gotten “here,” with her first full length album nearly under her belt, she responded, “A lot of time. And that’s what happens when you give yourself the time. If you just commit to living your life, you wind up in some wild things. And you will you ask yourself how you got there, but at least you’re here. I think that it’s not easy, so I applaud everybody who is here.”
Punchlines will be out June 28.
