San Francisco duo Yours find the missing piece on latest cut "Forever, Never"

On their debut, 2013’s Welcome EP, the duo showed a flair for experimental pop with diverse influences that seemed to range from psych to Something Corporate (see the title track, which drifts in and out of a world beat spiced with straight-ahead guitar rock reminiscent of Queen). The first offerings from their latest set—produced by Jamie Riotto at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone Studios—find the duo, consciously or not, honing those pop leanings into a slightly catchier but no less ambitious product.

And so it is on “Forever, Never”, one of the most relentlessly optimistic and flat-out fun releases of a still-young 2016. Cheery synths ride a jazzy hip-hop beat to a horn-fuelled chorus that finds our narrator making goofy proclamations of perfect complementary. You’re the “rock to [his] roll”, the “free to [his] fall” the “in to [his] always”. There’s a sweetness here; a real, innocent sentiment in these lyrics that doesn’t quite come across on paper. The words are giddily candid and overwhelmed by that same feeling you got as a kid when you finally come across the last piece of the puzzle you’ve been working on in the dusty netherworld beneath the couch.

But don't take it from me. The duo had this to say: "'Forever, Never' started simultaneously with a specific lyrical phrase and a beat that organically fused together. We wanted to write a song to explore the concept of vulnerability and communicate that it’s ok to feel that way. “Rock to my roll” was this phrase that expressed something unstable being supported by something stable. It laid the foundation for the lyrical themes in the song. The word “forever” flowed from the pen tip at the end of the chorus, but still needing those last two syllables to really put a bow on it, its contradictory counterpart “never” just made perfect sense and expanded the song’s interpretation.

"We’ve always been huge hip hop fans and knew that we wanted to give 'Forever, Never' that vibe, focusing heavily on the rhythmic marriage of the beat and a melodic bass. At the time it was written we were, you could say, gorging on J. Dilla’s Donuts (and still do). The beat in the track 'People' played a huge role in the production of the song.

"Through the sonic and melodic landscape, we wanted to create lyrical and musical parallels to suggest this feeling of vulnerability only to balance it out with the powerful feelings of strength and optimism that is anchored by the horns in the chorus. We aim to be conscious that our instrumentation conveys an intended feeling, even without any lyrics present."

Stream "Forever, Never" below:

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