This record’s bound to get you dancing.
FancyNormal have dropped their debut EP, Starters & Appetizers. The Melbourne-based pop outfit features vocalist Noni and producer Jules – a duo formed during last year’s COVID lockdowns.
With a love of ’80s synth-pop, FancyNormal takes inspiration from the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen and Whitney Houston. Addressing subjects such as depression, heartbreak and social anxiety through a pop lens, Starters & Appetizers is full of cathartic crying-in-the-club tunes comparable to Robyn and Jessie Ware.
“The goal was to take some of that complicated mess that all of us generally walked through and share it through the most romantic musical era ever – ’80s synth pop,” FancyNormal says of the EP.
Keen for more music reads? Subscribe to Beat here and we’ll send them straight to your inbox.
The first serving on Starters & Appetizers is the instrumental track ‘Butterflies and SSRIs’. Full of heavenly vocal chops drenched in reverb, this is a beautiful way to introduce the EP.
This flows effortlessly into ‘Ultra Passion’, a nostalgic ode to young love.
‘Sober Spaceman’ features introspective lyrics hidden beneath sugary production and soaring vocals. The breezy verses build up to a euphoric chorus. FancyNormal discuss the inspiration behind the track: “This is a song to encourage others in the same boat to just step into life and live each day as it comes.”
‘Sad Champagne’ has an infectious bounce accentuated by organic percussion, featuring a smooth hook where Noni contemplates a relationship.
“I just need to be alone, but I don’t want to be alone.”
The EP’s moody closer ‘Private Wine’ takes on minimal production that lets Noni’s powerhouse vocals shine. Speaking about the EP, FancyNormal says it captures the emotions around growing up, and coming to understand love.
“Starters & Appetizers is a recollection of growing up and what it was like trying to learn about love and a commentary of understanding yourself in the present,” the duo says.
“Sometimes the haziness of memory mixed with crisp emotions can create a sweet snapshot of something that was actually toxic.
“We can romanticise dysfunction but when you cut the BS out, you’re left with the heartbreak.”
Listen to Starters & Appetizers below.
Starters & Appetizers is out now. For more on FancyNormal, visit their website.
