Over the weekend, Illinois US 5 piece Real Friends announced that their third studio album ‘Composure’ is set to release on July 13 through Fearless Records. This past Friday, June 15, a select group of Chicago fans listened to the album in full after attending surprise listening parties at Sip Of Hope, Evolution Music and Rowboat Creative.
The news of Composure comes out ahead of the bands headlining run on the Vans Warped Tour, which kicks off June 21st at the Pomona Fairplex Grounds in Pomona, CA.
It’s been two years since the band released The Home Inside My Head, which earned a Billboard Top 200 chart placement. When approaching Composure, the band found themselves working harder than ever on what they wanted to say with this album. ‘We have never put this much time and effort into a record,’ explains bassist, Kyle Fasel. ‘Composure is everything we’ve always come up short on. We focused more on melodies than ever before. We focused more on the overall emotional climate of each song than ever before. I truly think that every song on the record stands on its own. But when all the songs come together it creates our best effort to date.’
Produced by Mike Green (The Aces, All Time Low, The Mowgli’s, Paramore), the album features 10 tracks filled with unforgettable pop-rock hooks that showcase the band’s progression from a pop-punk band to full-fledged pop-rock juggernaut. Even with the pop hooks, the songwriting throughout the album explores an emotionally mature side to the rock group, touching on mental health, being accepted, and above all, learning to love yourself.