Two EPs released in less than a year doesn’t seem to have fully tapped Francis of Delirium, as the Luxembourg-based act spearheaded by Jana Bahrich return today with a brand new track called “Come Out and Play”. No, it’s not a cover of The Offspring, but it does possess a lot of badass riffing, which backs up the ghoulish ideas, which Bahrich explains:
“I kept thinking about clowns when making this song, I watched Felini’s ‘8 ½’ and the closing scene where a procession of clowns play in a band stuck with me. I had them in my mind for months, thinking about the way they hid behind painted faces, keeping so much hidden from the audience, and also just how sad they seemed. I wanted this song to feel dark and to have an eeriness that would make sense in the background of some weird art movie about funhouses and carnivals.”
Once again showing progression on all fronts – atmosphere, instrumentation, vocals, lyrics – Francis of Delirium put forward an impressive prospect on “Come Out and Play”. They lure us in with an atmospherically crawling introduction, only to bring it crashing down around us in the torrential chorus, where Bahrich’s voice sounds like a soul trapped deep inside a hall of mirrors, tempting us ever deeper into the unsolvable maze. Of course, the maze is her mind, and once inside we get wrapped up in her unsolvable emotions; “I can’t stay / I can’t watch this fall apart if I’m to blame.” It’s too late to escape, as yet another volley of razor-sharp guitars comes pouring in, we get buried inside with her.
Bahrich animated the video for “Come Out and Play” herself; watch it below or listen to the song on streaming platforms.
You can follow Francis of Delirium on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
