Chicago Band Fran Announce Sophomore LP 'Leaving'

Fran, the Chicago-based project from Maria Jacobson, released their debut LP, A Private Picture, in November of 2019. The band's debut album garnered praise from Pitchfork, NPR Music, Stereogum, Paste Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Bandcamp and many more. Today Fran is announcing of their sophomore album, Leaving, following their last single "So Long". Leaving will be out on January 20th via Fire Talk Records.

On their new record Fran sort through grief and anxieties around accelerating climate change and the uncertain future we're collectively facing. Maria Jacobson, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind Fran, uses her sophomore album as a vehicle for acceptance; turning from the easily obsessable darkness and looking to faith; faith in humanity, faith in our shared struggle, faith in something larger than us all, to move forward.

On album opener, "Limousine", which is out today, Fran yearns for a future of simple pleasures. A plodding beat with flourishes of violin and viola, courtesy of Macie Stewart and Whitney Johnson, respectively, building slowly while Jacobson's stunning vocal delivery rises and falls with the track. As it nears it's final chorus the string section builds, reserving it's heft for this final climax, builds into one final, somber, fade. "Limousine" is a call for comfort in the unknowable; gleaning from the unending chaos that we're all in on something much bigger than ourselves.

On "Limousine", Jacobson writes; "Limousine" is a call to be together in the face of collective anxiety and doom. We try to tap history, religion, or mythology for some intel into how we should live, but we find ourselves in the same place over and over. I find that comforting! It allows us to acknowledge that we are not alone in these difficult feelings, that we've never been alone."

Jacobson previously shared album single "So Long." Fran dig deeper into the indie-folk she played with on A Private Picture. Her showstopping vocals at the fore, "So Long" is a heartwrenching song about the distance we create with the ones we love when our relationships find themselves in turmoil. The refrain of "I wonder where you've gone" rings out, clinging to you once the last chord dissipates.

Fran's Maria Jacobson is once again joined by Ashley Guerrero, Jake Acosta, and Bret Koontz, who played throughout the band's debut. Jacobson called on friends of the Chicago music scene for her sophomore album with Brian Sulpizio on guitar, Macie Stewart and Whitney Johnson on strings, Jeff Kimmel on clarinet, Ben Boye and Ben McFadden on keys, Carolina Chauffe, Emme Williams, and Sulpizio on backup vocals, and Jacobson herself on flute. Leaving was recorded by Brian Sulpizio between Palisade Studios, Jamdek, the offices of Numero Group, and Sulpizio's home studio. The album was mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering Service.