New Orleans native Rose Cangelosi navigates a thoroughly complicated world of love, ache and musical catharsis through the work of Fantasy Non Fiction. As a queer artist, she reflects upon the difficult experiences she’s endured and how her past has molded her approach to creating music as a form of release and remedy. Her lyrics are gently subversive, honest, and tinged with a tender remorse – though at times they can also be barbed and instilled with a fierce independence. Aided and abetted by guitarists Molly Reeves and Nahum Zdybel and bassist Sam Albright, Cangelosi positions herself behind the drums as the band doles out lush alternative pop textures and classically minded indie rock echoes.
They’ll continue to investigate and warp these sounds with the forthcoming release of their self-titled debut, which is due out May 8. They’ve also announced that 40% of proceeds from album sales through August 1 will be donated to people in need who live in the New Orleans area and have been detrimentally affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. You can pre-order their record here.
In the lead up to its release, the band has shared a new single called “Pressure”, and it is a catchy slice of alterna-pop that mixes the bouncy basslines of Talking Heads with the glistening melodies of The New Pornographers. Synths shimmy and shake along the track’s periphery, courtesy of Cangelosi, creating a dense hymnal landscape where the band revels in the luxury of their pop theatricality. Home to slightly smeared rhythms and blurry-eyed arrangements, “Pressure” captures their rambunctious personality perfectly and finds them celebrating from within the atmosphere of a 3am euphoria that sustains itself well past the time anyone can remember how it all even started.
