Folly Group - Down There!

It’s difficult to think of a better way to start 2024 than with new Folly Group music. Their previous EPs, ‘Awake and Hungry’ and ‘Human and Kind’, were clear signs of limitless musical ability and promise. With another two years of diligent experimentation under their belts, their post-punk potential has morphed into the delectable debut album, ‘Down There!’.

‘Down There!’ is a product of collaboration between four unreal musicians. Bringing together relentless Afrobeat drum rhythms, almost oppressively dark ‘90s electronica, and more classically indie-rock guitar lines, Folly Group have created a world you’re desperate to be a part of. Using both traditional and more offbeat media – hitting chair legs with a stick, for example – has made for simply wondrous soundscapes that combine the darker intent of ‘Awake and Hungry’ with the more polished production of ‘Human and Kind’.

If you wanted a feel-good start to 2024, this probably isn’t it. They capture the crushing pressure of modern society in a bleak but real way, with opening track ‘Big Ground’ animating the desire to just crawl underground and lay in the dark, whilst ‘Nest’ represents the feeling that you don’t know who you are anymore. The rival styles of co-lyricists Sean and Louis allow Folly Group to make both incisive social comment in ‘Strange Neighbour’, and to retell personal experiences with exquisite detail in ‘East Flat Crows’ and ‘Freeze’, forging a deeply relatable and impressively fearless record. Whether through expertly crafted metaphor or starkly honest vulnerability, Folly Group have brought together threads that just shouldn’t work and made it into an ‘Album of the Year’ contender.

Perfect. Five stars. 10/10. No notes.