by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
Special Friend is the Parisian band who titled their album Ennemi Commun, or Common Enemy. In other circumstances, such juxtaposition might hint at some lurking tension in the record but not here: this is some of the cleanest and finest minimalist pop of the last few years. Formed in 2017, the duo consists of the French Guillaume Siracusa and the American Erica Ashleson. Ennemi Commun follows their debut EP from September 2019 and is released by Hidden Bay Records and Howlin Banana Records, consistently providing quietly excellent output over in the French capital.
Special Friend’s full album is a lightly dreamy affair. Gracious and layered guitars and simple but delicate harmonies combine to form a hesitantly melancholic air. “Motel” starts the record, Siracusa’s guitar timid for now, threatening with promise. The title track then thrums hypnotically, the guitar spellbinding in its repetition, the drums momentous in their precision. While their garage-pop is resolutely minimal, they know when to indulge in the quiet/loud structure: tracks like the aforementioned “Motel” and “Hazard” are aware of when to increase the fuzz; the only one that overspills into outright freneticism is the thumping “Forest”.
Ashleson’s voice is classical indie-pop: its delicate sweetness and airy harmonic quality recalls Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo; when she dovetails with the harsher tone of Siracusa, they closely resemble The Pastels (ironically most notably on a track titled “Pastel”). “Manatee” and “Movement of the Planets” are the band at their most mellow and considered, the rhythm slowed and cooled. A vintage synth adds freshness in the final two songs, “Pastel” and the introspective swirl of “HCM”.
“Flaring Jean” though, is the album’s highlight: the song places one instantly in Paris, just as the sun is setting, in one of those arrondissements that slope gently upwards in the north (as if somehow Paris itself knew that the world would always wish to view the splendor below), looking down over the clustered rooftops and packed streets; it’s melancholic and meaningful and captures all the beauty and the possibility of the city of love.
Listening to music like this, there’s always the temptation to dismiss it as easily-reproduced; like the naive student who views a Damien Hirst piece and loudly expresses “I could have made this.” Yet gorgeous and spacious garage-pop such as Special Friend’s has to be just right to create that inimitable contemplative and sincere atmosphere. Ennemi Commun is hopefully just the beginning for their growth.