New York Lo-fi wunderkind JW Francis celebrates the announcement of his debut full-length album ‘We Share a Similar Joy’ today by sharing new single ‘Good Time’
Taken from the collection of sun-drenched, care-worn modern classics about love and life in and around The Big Apple, ‘Good Time’ is the follow up to July’s hugely well-received first single ‘New York’ which was added to the BBC 6Music’s A- list, the Radio X X-Posure and saw support NME, DIY and Spindle Mag, to name few, securing Francis’s credibility as a future stalwart of his genre and ramping up anticipation for the long-player amongst fans and critics alike. The album will be released on a limited edition yellow vinyl, which you can pre-order here.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, JW landed in New York City at 19 to study Economics at Columbia University, but not before making stops, stays and stints in Chelsea, Vermont, aged 12 and Paris, France, aged 13. Whilst at Columbia, the troubadour started music blog Rare Candy and founded student-run recording studio CU Records. Musically, JW takes his lead from the greats of the downtown scene – Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground, Television, Talking Heads, Strokes & Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ – whose inspiration can be easily heard across the album.
Proving his NYC credentials, JW qualified as a licensed New York tour-guide. In between recording his album of gentle but playful odes and laments to the city’s iconic skylines and characters, Francis also finds time to work a day-job as a research assistant for a Nobel-Prize-winner, runs a murder-mystery business. There’s also just the small matter of him maintaining separate backing bands in LA, San Francisco, Paris and Glasgow to name but a few of the dozens of cities (19 states and five countries, for precision’s sake) he has played in.
Taking a break from doing literally everything to discuss the new single, JW says:
‘Have you ever tried to capture a moment in time, like catching an insect in a glass jar?
With this song I wanted to say NOW is a good time. Just like NOW is a good time. Or NOW. It’s always a good time’.
