LISTEN HERE
This time around, the band recruits Briggs for a dynamic duet perfect for anybody yearning to make an escape from the friendzone. Their voices go back and forth between bass-heavy production, distorted guitars and emotionally charged screams. It culminates on an infectious chorus, “I hate that I want to be more than friends. Sometimes, losing friends is alright.”
Of the collaboration, Moby Rich says, “When we wrote ‘friends*’ with Bishop, it was our first time meeting her. Sometimes sessions have a way of just giving you a song, and the second we started writing, the words and melodies just started to flow. It’s pretty wild when we get to work with people that we’ve heard on the radio so many times. It’s also nice when they are super chill and wholly authentic. For us, ‘friends*’ is a song about having feelings for someone that you’ve only seen as a friend and realizing that you have to eventually tell them how you feel if you want things to move forward or change. Also, the song is about the anxiety and fear of what the response may be to tell that person that you want to be ‘more than friends, knowing very well that it may mess up what you once had.”
Bishop Briggs chimes in, saying, “‘friends*’ describes the frustrating yet beautiful cycle of disappointment, hope, bliss, chaos, addiction and love. Wanting something you can’t have can be very alluring and can consume your every thought. I had been singing ‘I hate that I want to be more than friends’ when I was briefly reminded of a guy friend of mine who I previously felt that way for. I was reminded of all the moments I looked far too deeply into and the memories I replayed in my mind in the hopes of us being something more.”
She continues, “I am a big fan of Moby Rich, and I reached out to them directly to see if they would have any interest in writing! Thankfully, they were up for it, and before I knew it I was in a cozy room with them sharing this idea I had. We quickly began recording a layout of the track on our phones and decided to record it officially at a later date. Soon enough, we were all playing this rough voice memo from our phones on repeat whenever we could. Sometimes you know if a song has potential if you can hear it acoustically, and it still moves you. It felt like something special from the moment we began writing, and I hope you feel the same.”
“friends*” follows Moby Rich’s latest release “Get High”—listen to the song HERE and watch the video HERE! The Los Angeles-based duo recently announced they will join Weathers on their “Our Little Secret” North American tour later this year—see the full list of upcoming dates below. Moby Rich has amassed over 30 million-plus streams to date and received praise from Billboard, Funny Or Die, Noisey, Alt Press, Ones To Watch and more.
ABOUT MOBY RICH
LA two-piece Moby Rich turn melancholy song craft into bold, pop hooks and visuals. The pair—Maxwell Joseph and Connor Pledger—relocated to LA in 2015 from Indianapolis and Atlanta respectively in search of, well, anything. In a moment of synergy, Connor began attending open mic nights around the town in which Maxwell was living. The pair serendipitously met, began writing together, and realized an identifiable sound between the two them. Writing the majority of their tracks on acoustic guitar, they sing every song in unison, a sort of whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-parts attitude, which speaks volumes of their close, almost twin-like, friendship. The first insight into Moby Rich’s unique sound comes in the shape of their 2018 breakout hit, “Yoko Ono,” a melancholy pop banger that combines the euphoria of early MGMT with the laidback beat making of N.E.R.D, which was featured on their debut, Our First EP. Following an Australian tour with Broods, the duo released their follow up, Our First Second EP, in June 2019, which includes “Oil Spill” and “Sabotage.” Hot on the heels of a North American tour with Matt Maeson last fall, the duo dropped their empowering anthem, “Loser,” which is featured in the latest installment of filmmaker Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
ABOUT BISHOP BRIGGS
By way of her bold voice, unfiltered storytelling, and uncontainable energy, Bishop Briggs accesses and shares strength in her songs. Undergoing a transformation in the aftermath of personal turbulence, the British Los Angeles-based songstress embraces a new level of confidence on her new 2019 album, Champion. Since emerging in 2017, Bishop positioned herself to empower. Tallying 3 billion cumulative streams, she earned a platinum certification for her breakthrough single “River.” Meanwhile, her 2018 full-length debut, Church of Scars, made its way to the Top 10 on the Billboard Albums Chart. In its wake, praise came from Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, NPR, and more. Known for seismic and stage-shaking performances, she not only sold out two headline tours, but she also ignited Coachella and Lollapalooza as well as American Idol and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Among other accolades, she garnered a nod in the category of “MTV Push Artist of the Year” at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards and contributed a striking rendition of INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” to the Fifty Shades Freed trailer and soundtrack. Fresh off the release of her new album, with more music on the way, 2020 is set to be Bishop’s biggest year yet.