The Favors - The Dream

The debut album from The Favors – the duo project of FINNEAS and Ashe – is as theatrical, tender and quietly devastating as you’d hope. 'The Dream' is packed with rich harmonies, playful detours, and songwriting that balances depth with just the right amount of daft.

It opens with the flickering 'Restless Little Heart', a gentle curtain-raiser for what unfolds into a warm, melodic character study. The title-track is full of smirking self-deprecation (“Hard not to feel pathetic, maxing out your credit”), and that contrast between lightness and lyrical bite carries through the entire record.

'Little Mess' is gorgeously off-kilter – silly, a bit sad, but weirdly uplifting – while 'Moonshine' brings in a kind of soft-focus classicism, like falling in love in a dusty cinema. 'The Hudson' goes deeper, all emotional rubble and regret: “All I’ve ever known is gone.” There’s no hiding from the feeling here.

The back half leans further into the melancholy. 'Necessary Evils' dances around existential dread with a wink. 'Lake George' is cinematic and slow-burning, steeped in loss. By the time you get to 'Someday I’ll Be Back in Hollywood', you’re wondering if this is all a love letter to making music, or a gentle goodbye to it.

But then 'Home Sweet Home' lands – bright, funky and quietly euphoric. A final act that doesn’t offer closure so much as a shrug and a smile. It’s the sound of two songwriters choosing fun over perfection.

If this really is their one album as The Favors, it’s a gem: full of humour, heartbreak and unexpected joy. A little messy. Very human. And all the better for it.