Frances Quinlan

“We should try again to talk,” Frances Quinlan writes. It’s not just a lyric—it’s a suggestion, a warning, a plea, a wish. This request is woven throughout Likewise, her forthcoming solo album, amidst dramatically shifting motifs. Some are jubilant, some are dreamy and abstract, and a few are sinister, but within each dark void that Quinlan explores, there is a light peering back at her. Quinlan is a voyaging songwriter. Throughout Likewise, she confronts what confounds her in the hopes that she will come out on the other side with a better sense of what it is to be human. She presents listeners with a complicated, albeit spirited vision of what it could mean to truly engage with another person, to give a small piece of oneself over to someone else without expectation. It’s no easy task, in fact, it’s likely to remain a lifelong effort. The common thread that leads us through each chapter of Likewise is our narrator’s sincere desire for open dialogue, with both the listeners and the subjects of her songs. But, even when that open dialogue isn’t possible, and there is a missed connection, Quinlan’s tone refrains from being one of despair. The sublime and rollicking “Your Reply” shows Quinlan attempting to engage with tenderness, even when met with a palpable silence. “There can be a one-sidedness to even the most loving and rewarding relationships,” Quinlan says. “We will always have a part of ourselves we can’t or don’t know how to share. There are so many risks involved. Regardless, I think of this song as celebratory. If anything, the speaker is frustrated at coming so close to understanding another person completely, but perhaps only just missing the mark. But still what a gift that is, to come close.”

Photo Credit: Julia Khorosilov