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May 03, 2023 By Caleb Campbell

Between Dreams is the forthcoming sophomore record from Vancouver indie pop outfit FRANKIIE, and sees the band occupying a hazy liminal space between dream pop, shoegaze, and psych pop. As vocalist and guitarist Francesca Carbonneau describes, the record was born of the collective uncertainty the band experienced in the aftermath of the pandemic, a foggy unreality not unlike a waking dream. “It was this weird ‘between dreams’ state because nothing was normal, or at least not how it was and we just had to carry on like everyone else,” she says.

She continues, “These songs were following a sense of intuition, and not really trying to have them be anything but what instinctively came out. There was no attempt to stick to a certain genre, or take ourselves too seriously.”

The band introduced that boundary-free approach with the record’s first two singles, “Garden” and “Visions.” Today, they’re back with their latest taste of the album, “Cruel,” premiering with Under the Radar.

The band leans into their vintage pop influences on “Cruel,” backed by reverb-soaked guitar, shimmering synths, and sunny vocal melodies. The track takes on hints of beach-ready surf pop jangle, filtered through hazy garage pop and dreamy vocal harmonies. However, the lyrics take on a biting edge as they poke fun at a cruel and narcissistic character: “Who do you call when you need some honey? / Now that you know I can see right through / Delusional drama, the game is over / Calling it quits, yeah I’m done with you.”

Carbonneau says of the track, “In an age of celebrated self-absorption, we were inspired to write this song about a fictitious character that we sing back and forth with. It is essentially an amalgamation of all the narcissists we’ve ever met and in turn we want nothing to do with.”

Check out the song and live video below. Between Dreams is due out June 2nd via Paper Bag Records. You can also read our accompanying Q&A with the band below.

Can you tell us a little bit more about where the lyrical inspiration for “Cruel” was derived from? Is there a specific story behind it you want to share?

The melody and structure of “Cruel” were what came first when writing this song but a few lines did immediately stick as we jammed, one of them being “I could never be like you”. So we were inspired from those lyrics to write the song about all the narcissistic personalities and people we’ve met throughout our lives. It can be easy to fall under their spell, as narcissists are smooth talking, charismatic, and know how to love bomb hard. There have been a ton of journalistic podcasts and docu-series lately telling wild tales of relationships gone very wrong because of this dynamic so maybe that was an influence too when we were coming up with this concept. The singer contemplates the nature of this narcissistic person - their over-the-top ego, their selfish desires and cruelty. When you have the chance to observe these qualities in someone from afar, you start to realize how unattractive it really is, but it can be hard to see a narcissist’s true nature up close. This song is about the singer realizing this.

What are you most looking forward to with the release of your sophomore LP in June? Are there certain tracks you’re most excited for?

We are REALLY excited about having a new body of work out there that speaks to our ongoing evolution as artists and people AND getting to share that by playing some really fun shows to celebrate the release. We’ll be playing in Vancouver, Seattle, and Los Angeles in early June. To be honest, we love all the songs on Between Dreams but we’re pretty excited for “Passion Fruit” and “Golden Days” to be out there in the world - very different songs with their own vibe. There is also a song called “Crystal Eyes” and the lyrics were taken from a poem written by Nashlyn’s mom about her cat Tofu. It’s a heavy, droney vibey song too and we love it.

Is there anything we can expect from FRANKIIE in the near future? Tours or music videos? And what do you hope comes for FRANKIIE moving forward?

With the album release, we’ll also be sharing a beautiful music video for the song “Golden Days,” which is the closing track on Between Dreams. Directed by Andrea Nazarin of HILITE Agency it’s going to be SO good. So we can’t wait for that either. She is currently making last touches to it at her studio in Toronto. Expect more touring in the fall, most likely shows along the west coast - we are always looking for bands to partner up with on the road. We hope with this release we can have some more amazing adventures playing our music for audiences all over, make new friends, magical memories, and just celebrate and appreciate the time, energy, love, and sacrifice we put into making this record happen, and that includes everyone who has contributed along the way.