Everyone You Know

The brothers' debut album is a document of a big night out; from the anticipation that drags you through the working week up to the euphoria found under nightclub lights and straight through until the bittersweet comedown the morning after.

It’s a heart on sleeve collection of boundary-pushing songs that burst with emotion, establishing siblings Rhys and Harvey as songwriters with a unique ability to distil the chaos and adventure of a Saturday night into a body of work built to last the test of time.

“Think About His Mother” is dark and dramatic, filled with tension and the possibility of violence as Rhys tries to talk a chain-smoking friend out of making an impulsive mistake he’s bound to regret. His narrative sits on top of an electronic pulse producer Harvey says came after listening to Nine Inch Nails and their atmospheric use of synths that slowly build to an explosive climax. “We wanted the music to tell the story even if you took the lyrics away,” he says. “Hoodies & Hats,” meanwhile, acts as the emotional centre piece of the album. Written after his best mate’s mum passed away, Rhys raps: “It’s been a tough year. My best mate’s mum passed. He looks unharmed but it left her son scarred.” It’s a song about the way men deal with their problems and the importance of friends in times of grief. There’s a tenderness to the song, with its muted and vulnerable production and confession that “therapy ain’t going to help him get through it but the late nights with the drinking and the drugs are.” “We all have our own ways of coping,” Rhys says of that song. “The album is about people you might look at and judge but underneath they’re great people.”

With references that range from Moby to Kendrick Lamar’s classic 'Good Kid Maad City' via the ‘90s cult movie, 'Human Traffic', 'Ain’t Smiled In Ages' is an uncompromising vision of inner-city hedonism and the beating hearts of those living for the weekend. “This is the clearest vision of who we are and what Everyone You Know are about,” Rhys explains. “It’s not about chasing radio or trends, it’s about writing songs that connect with people and stand the test of time.”