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Frank James runs us through each track of his Hopecity EP

Last week, Melbourne based artist Frank James unveiled the stunning new video for Killah; the second track off his Hopecity EP.

The entire EP is brimming with enthralling sonic soundscapes that flaunt James’ songwriting abilities. So we caught up with the artist himself for a run down on each of the EP’s tracks.

Fresh off the release of his new video for Killah, we caught up with Melbourne based artist Frank James for a track-by-track run-down of his Hopecity EP.

Hopecity

I wrote this song before moving to London. It’s about chasing the dream and moving to a new city, then reality sets in and everything isn’t quite as you imagined. It still amazes me how true the song turned out to be… it was like premonition or something. I was broke I was living in a warehouse sharing a room with a stranger (who turned out to be one of my best mates over there, love yah cods!). It’s cloudy… all the time! And everyone seems to be in a rush and in a bad mood! Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot to love about the place and I had a great time and learnt a lot about myself and my music, but it was a struggle at times to say the least.

Killah

This song isn’t about anyone in particular but I definitely met a few over there that fit the bill. I really wanted to emphasise the power a woman can have on you with this track, not just lyrically but sonically too. The way they can draw you in – that’s the guitar. The chaos they can cause – that’s the beat. And although you know you should leave because it just might kill you, you stay – that’s the hook. It’s that classic femme fatale scenario.

Superlover

This track’s about instant attraction when you meet someone and from the moment you lay eyes on them you want them and they know it too, oh boy do they know it! But you really don’t care and you’ll do anything to have them haha. It’s pretty intense but it happens. In my case it was a French girl I met in London hence the “ooh la la” line in the chorus.

Flesh & Bone

This is a special one for me. I wrote this while walking home from a music awards after party… I only got in cause I knew the guard. It was weird. It was a great party; free booze, pretty girls, and of course the artists who had been at the awards… but I didn’t feel like I deserved to be there. Well not yet at least. So I left, and as I was walking to my car I was thinking fuck man they’re no different from me. I saw Lorde and she seemed like such a sweetheart talking to fans and taking photos… it was a real moment for me.

I saw she was just a regular human being like me and she had cracked it! Not just at home and here in Australia, but properly cracked it. She’d won Grammys, had a number one on the billboard charts, and she had fans all over the world! An amazing talent of course, but still just a regular kid from NZ like me. I remember I was walking along a cobbled street and my boots were tapping as I walked and I begun to hum, and this melody just hit me, then those words “flesh and bone is all we are we both bleed and we both scar no one knows just who we are but flesh and bone is all we are.”

By the time I got to my car I had half a song… so I sat in there
humming, clicking and tapping away until I basically had the whole song minus the guitar. That’s the 1st song I wrote that I was so connected with every word every chord every hum from start to finish was a pure expression of me and I’m still so proud of it.

Hopecity is available now.