Back in July last year, we were introduced to the mellow, otherworldly and buoyant sound of NYC based trio Couch Prints. Fronted by Jayanna Roberts, the band released two eerie yet oddly soothing synth-pop tracks that have become highlights of the past year.

Ahead of their debut EP, which is set to be released by our friends at Luminelle, they have now released their latest dreamy offering in the form of “Faces”.

With Roberts’s floating and choral sounding voice leading the track, the throbbing synths underneath amass to a sparkling effect. Paired with the sparse but stable electronic drums beat, this delicate song is transformed into an uplifting anthem. This may sound strange, specifically when taking into account the topic of the song, yet “Faces” possesses a real bittersweetness and strange magnetism despite its seemingly airy sensibilities.

Of the track, band member Brandon Tong explained: “‘Faces’ was a song I wrote way back, before Couch Prints was around. I’d been on and off with this person from my high school for like six years and it had completely shaped my whole worldview for so many years that a lot of the lyrics I was writing in some way referenced the relationship. Despite how obvious it was that it wasn’t working out, we kept ending up in the same place and recommitting to the same mistakes.”

A song about “surrendering yourself in the least romantic way possible”, “Faces” conveys dichotomous feelings. The opposing forces of Jayanna Roberts‘s serene voice, the ethereal swirling synths and the harsh electronic drums create a real sense of sad inevitability, just like when you know that someone isn’t right for you.

Known for their outlandish videos to match their offbeat sound, they have also unveiled a visual accompaniment for “Faces” which sees a haunted-looking Roberts sat atop a metal swivelling chair, lit up by a projection of garish, make up covered faces. Gaining traction and becoming more erratic, the video plays out like some kind of strange purgatory. Watch below and pre-order the Tell U EP via Bandcamp.

With two amazing singles already in their bag, “Tell U” and “Of Drawing“, Couch Prints are one of our favourite up and coming bands out there. Consisting of Jayanna Roberts (vocals), Brandon Tong (keys), and Jacob Truax (guitar), the NYC-based synth-pop trio has just announced the release of their debut EP and shared the video for “Tell U”, their 2019 ethereal breakthrough single.

“I wrote the first iteration of this track while living in Denver,” explained Tong. “I was working this job I hated and had this feeling that life was speeding by. I ended up moving to New York a few months later, and shortly after Jake came out from Paris to record some of the music we’d been collaborating on the past year. While he was [In Paris] he had worked on music with Jayanna, so he called her to come sing on the tracks. We showed her the tracks and immediately she was humming along and had this incredible tone and way of singing, so we started recording for “Tell U” and finished it that night. With so many moving pieces coming together so serendipitously, the final song came to celebrate this feeling of transience and movement and leaving the past behind.”

He then added:

“When we gave the song to Mayachka for the music video, she took that wistful feeling and our experiences, and created a story about a supposed three-way love triangle between us – with all the romance and nostalgia of a 2000’s soap opera. It perfectly captured the melancholy and strangeness of our first year coming together.”

Shot with a Betamax camcorder, the vintage video looks more like a Telenovela than Truffaut‘s Jules et Jim as their depiction of love, jealousy, and heartbreak is funnily over-dramatic (the intro credits are pure comedy). The visuals were shot in the Lent-Riker-Smith homestead, the oldest private dwelling in New York City. Watch and pre-order the EP below.