Real Friends Composure Review

Real Friends, a pop-punk band from Illinois has released their third studio album titled Composure and they are now on tour with Boston Manor, Grayscale and Eat Your Heart Out. Real Friends got together in 2010 and struggled to find their sound and style at first but collectively decided to start over. They then released Everyone That Dragged You Here EP which increased the band's popularity and the audience at their shows.  The band has released a total of six EPs and three studio albums within the past eight years. The band was hesitant but in 2013 they signed to Fearless Records and released their very first full length studio produced album in 2014 titled Maybe This Place is the Same and We’re Just Changing. Since signing to Fearless Records the band has played countless of stages on the Vans Warped tour and even had a main stage spot on the Vans Warped Tour Farewell tour.  On November 16, 2017 the band released a single entitled "Get By"  teasing the release of a new album coming in next few months. A few weeks before Real Friends dropped Composure, they released another song "From the Outside" with a music video. 

Composure is Real Friends' most ambitious work to date which has challenged friendships and the band as musicians. The band had gotten an opportunityy to work with producer Mike Green (All Time Low, Paramore and more popular artists) who showcased the band’s progression from a pop-punk band to something even more special. He helped the band to focus on topics in their songwriting such as mental health, being accepted, and above all, learning to love yourself. Composure really hits home for me because, I have listened to Real Friends since they dropped Put Yourself Back Together. They know how to reel people in with the kind of topics they speak about in their lyrics from ”It's 4am and you're keeping me from closing these sleepy eyes, Does the thought of me keep you up at night? -I’ve Given Up On You“ to “On the inside I'm still sick, The pill's a temporary fix, From the outside, I seem fine -From The Outside“ Composure wastes no time getting straight to the point, with “Me First” immediately presenting a refreshing change in both sound and focus, hence the name composure, they wanted to focus more on creating each song as a whole rather than just focusing on the lyrics or the style. “We have never put this much time and effort into a record,” explains bassist, Kyle Fasel. “Composure is everything we’ve always come up short on. We focused more on melodies than ever before. We focused more on the overall emotional climate of each song than ever before. I truly think that every song on the record stands on its own. But when all the songs come together it creates our best effort to date.”  So much more thought was put into how the album flows and sounds this time around. The band’s sound with this album is more colorful. Just like the video for “From The Outside”, every song sounds more upbeat than usual, bringing a more youthful energy and awake feeling to the whole project. 

Real Friends only has 7 tour dates left. If you are in the surrounding areas be sure to check them out along with Grayscale, Boston Manor, and Eat Your Heart Out. Don’t forget to make a pit stop on the bands website to buy their new album and check out some merch. Go on over and check out Kade’s article on Real Friends.