Indie music fans had a pleasant surprise in 2015 when Francis returned with a new single, ‘Follow Me Home’, and announced plans for a new album entitled Marathon. The band had built up a solid fanbase over the years, but it had been several years since they’d released any new music. ‘Follow Me Home’ therefore, was a welcome reminder that this was a very special band. The track was a sweeping, driving pop song, with a sense of emotional weight that very few songs manage to capture. We had a chat with the band’s vocalist Petra Mases about the new record and how it all came together.
So it’s been five years since your last full-length record, Lekomberg, We Were Kin, which is quite a gap. What’s been happening in the world of Francis since then?
We’ve released an EP (This Must Be Blood) in 2012 and played live quite a bit around that. Since then both I and Jerker [Krumlinde, guitarist] became parents and we haven’t played together as much. Our bass player at the time, Tim, left the band (he’s now playing drums with Daniel Norgren). The three of us [Mases, Krumlinde and drummer Petter Nygårdh] that were left in the band were able to write and record for Marathon. I think all of us felt we had a lot of songs in us, and started to record them before we knew what to do with Francis. Paulina [Mellkvist, bass] and Oskar [Bond, keyboards] joined us during the end of the recording period and came with us to New York to mix with Nicolas Vernhes. Since then they are as much part of Francis as anyone else.
The band has since gone through line-up changes and expansions, and Marathon is your first album to be released internationally. Does this feel like the start of something new for the band, a new era almost?
It sure does. There is some kind of non-descriptive feeling that has been there since the beginning, that’s still there. But other than that, it’s like a whole new band.
Marathon is also being released through Strangers Candy, which if I’ve got my facts right is your own record label. Is having the control over your music that having your own record label allows something very important to the band?
When we were going to release our first album back in 2011 we couldn’t find anyone that wanted to put it out or that we wanted to put it out together with. We were pretty used doing things ourselves, so Petter put Strangers Candy together and we all helped out. Petter continued to put out music with other acts and it’s his thing, but everyone on the label is somehow involved or connected. But yeah, control is nice and Petter is very nice so the turnout is good.
Over the last few years you’ve also been building up a base in Falun, running your own art collective and being very active in the local scene. Is having that ‘home base’ and a scene back in Falun with like-minded artistic people a big asset to Francis? Is it a useful source of collaborators, inspiration and support?
When you live in a town with less than 50 000 people and the cultural opportunities offered are narrow, then it’s a good idea for artist to help each other by creating a network. We needed an alternative scene to practice our music, and there was none, so we gathered people and it is absolutely a source for inspiration. Even if you’re making completely different music, the mutual respect, support and friendship has opened more new roads than I ever even could dream of.
A lot of the recording for the album was done in the village of Gagnef. What was behind the decision to record there? It’s kind of a cliché, but Marathon has got this great sense of space in its lush, sweeping music. Do you think recording in a rural environment like that influences that, inspires you to make music that has an airier, more open sound?
I think we had an idea that we wanted the soundscape to be more open and with room for reflection. That naturally creates more space and air. We’re all from small villages and I think that the air was a natural step in our development. But it was certainly a privilege to record in Gagnef, and to record undisturbed.
On the album themes, you said that “Every song is basically about children, divorce or love. But there is also a political side of it. We are all affected by the xenophobia that is going on in Europe”. I think you can hear that in the title track ‘Marathon’s’ chorus: “Maybe we are blind, waiting for a life, something to satisfy us”. That line, that mix of uncertainty and longing, is about as universal a sentiment as it gets, I don’t think there’s anyone that doesn’t feel like that. So I was wondering if that’s the anti-xenophobia message here, that all people essentially strive for the same things in life, that in our basic goals we’re all the same?
Absolutely, Marathon is about that struggle to keep your faith in a better tomorrow and more or less a tribute to people who stay passionate about solidarity, humanity and all the worlds’ children. We are all the same, and it’s so very important that we remember that and strive to make a difference rather than just giving up.
The title of the album itself, Marathon, links to the idea of pushing on through endurance and struggle in the hope of something better. Would you say that’s a theme that runs throughout the album?
The album follows life through changes and uncertainty, through those times when you feel completely alone but still linger on a single, pale fibre that it’s going to get better. And to keep faith in life.
And finally, now that Marathon is out, what do the next few months look like for Francis?
We’re looking forward to some gigs here in Sweden and a tour in Germany in April. Other than that we’re gonna enjoy the feeling of finally holding this record in our hands!
Marathon is out now via Strangers Candy. Francis play at Debaser Strand tonight, Feb 12, along with Lemaitre and OMVR.
Words: Austin Maloney
