PINK + BLACK by The FMs
The FMs announce the release of PINK + BLACK, out on May 10. Their sophomore double album was completed the moment the pandemic started and is now making its release after the tragic death of singer Frankie Rex in 2022. Recorded throughout 2017-2019 on an old ferry boat docked in the middle of Bushwick, Brooklyn, PINK + BLACK was produced by bandleader Matte Namer, with Brian Forbes acting as co-producer and mix engineer. The material highlights Namer’s love of analog synthesizers combined with etherial guitars and takes a more psychedelic and emotionally dynamic turn as compared to their debut album spanning themes from sexual irreverence, the nature of dreams and human connection, to hope for the future of gender freedom. The album is sonically ambitious and thematically expansive, yet presents with a unified concept and feel within the context of The FMs journey. “The concept for PINK + BLACK began seven years ago and includes over a thousand hours of blood, sweat and tears put into the recording process. This is Frankie’s legacy and the world deserves to hear it.” - Matte Namer
Of the lead single and video for “Transformation Dreams,” Matte Namer shares: “Working with NYC trans filmmaker & musician Dylan Mars Greenberg, we wanted to create a video for ‘Transformation Dreams’ that was both narrative but not based solely in current practical reality. It transcends time, the mortal realm, and gender but culminates in a message of hope and love. The song’s lyrics are delivered from different periods of time, and the song took on an entirely new meaning after Frankie passed away and I wrote a new chorus for it. The film is somewhat autobiographical in nature for both Frankie and I as it follows a version of myself living in a dystopic future like world full of traumatic patriarchal messaging and then that character discovers a queer universe where Frankie is undergoing gender affirmation surgery. We see the news that Frankie has passed on, and the video continues with me undergoing gender affirmation surgery and exploding out into a kaleidoscope of hope, love and the true freedom to express our queer and trans selves. Ultimately I have inherited Frankie’s hopes and dreams for transformation and push back against the idea that a life cut short means a life of failure.”
Tracklist
| 1. | Hit Yourself | 4:22 |
| 2. | We're All Bad Girls | 4:09 |
| 3. | Song X | 3:10 |
| 4. | Wasteland Century | 4:34 |
| 5. | The New Line | 3:51 |
| 6. | Transformation Dreams | 4:59 |
| 7. | Pink Mist | 4:05 |
| 8. | Blackout | 4:11 |
| 9. | Haunting Familiar | 5:12 |
| 10. | Dark Sister | 4:55 |
| 11. | Silent City | 4:33 |
| 12. | Eyes Are Suffering | 4:02 |
| 13. | My Holy House | 4:40 |
| 14. | The Reckoning | 5:35 |
Credits
Produced by Matte Namer
Co-Produced by Brian Forbes
Engineered by Brian Forbes and Matte Namer
Mixed by Brian Forbes (except Song X mixed by John Siket)
All Songs Written by The FMs
The FMs
Frankie Rex (vox, guitars)
Matte Namer (vox, guitars, synths, fx)
Michael Butterly (synths, fx)
Lucas Leto (drums)
License
All rights reserved.
The FMs are a bastion of queer music. Formed in 2017 by Matte Namer (they/them) and Frankie Rex (they/he), who met in high school in New York City, the Brooklyn-bred band exudes subversion with style (and of course, sex), rethinking long-standing societal programming, and the rebellion of simply being one’s authentic self all through their politically charged pop missives.