Unconventional and yet completely irresistible, “Bootchie” rattles around like a toolbox in the back of a pick-up truck; its scattered instrumentation unearthing hypnotic rhythms in the most unexpected of places. With its shuffling percussion to the languid piano motifs, its jazzy inflections and brassy sunspots, the track recalls the off-kilter and obliquely-danceable productions of contemporaries like Gold Panda or Animal Collective, but hallmarked with Febueder’s understated sense of adventure.

While its title may be a knowing play on the word “boujee” (NB slang for something that is “Luxurious in lifestyle yet humble in character” and a wry nod towards the dressy town of Ascot in which the band formed), the track itself is in actuality a tender reflection on loss, grief and acceptance.

“The song has been described to me as a ballad. But a ballad with rolling delayed metallic percussion looping through it….” says frontman Samuel Keysell. “The song is about loss. Accepting a loss with reluctance.”

Through a haze of obfuscated vocals, Keysell builds a mantra of melancholic expression, “Bootchie”‘s emergent lyrics as introspective as they are affecting. “You were broken, well I should know that, with you I had it, well now you know it, when I’m open, you’re always open, now you show me, I’m taking you home” he lulls with a gentle forlornness here.

The track arrives with a fittingly left-field official video courtesy of director and frequent collaborator Timothy Jacob Elledge, who the band first worked with back in 2017. Following the day in the life of an ageing chauffeur at the end of his tether, with plenty of surrealist twists enroute. Speaking about the video, Elledge says:

“The seed of the video concept was planted during the first lockdown. I was smoking a cigarette outside my Brooklyn apartment when an old white limousine pulled up to the traffic light at the end of my block. These were peak quarantine days, mind you. The streets in New York were like ghost towns– anyone who stayed behind can attest to this. I quickly wondered one hundred questions about the driver: Where was he going? What did he do all day? Who needs a limousine? The car pulled off. I finished my cigarette and quickly forgot about the man… Months later ‘Bootchie’ arrived in my inbox. When I heard the opening seconds of the song the first image that came to mind was that of cans dragging down the street on lines of string. Cans on a limousine. The lonely limo driver. I allowed myself to daydream about what that man had been doing that day and what sort of odd errands he may have been running.”

“Bootchie” arrives as the band’s first new music of 2022, and their first release since the ‘Re-Etched’ remix album of 2020 and the band’s acclaimed debut: ‘Tomalin Has Etched In’ (2020).

An avant-indie duo hailing from the UK, Febueder (pronounced Fe-byou-der) is made up of vocalist/ multi-instrumentalist Kieran Godfrey and percussionist/ multi-instrumentalist/ vocalist Samuel Keysell. Since the band’s inception, their anomalous take on indie rock, electronica, jazz and pop, has earned acclaim from publications including NME, Complex, The Line of Best Fit, Wonderland, Indie Shuffle, CLASH, DIY and Record of the Day. Earmilk even named their 2020 debut ‘Tomalin Has Etched In’ as one of the best albums of the year.

With the promise of new material on the horizon, Febueder will be hitting the road once again this Spring – plotting a small run of shows in Bristol, Manchester, and London. Full dates and details can be found below.

FEBUEDER – LIVE DATES
May 19 – Rough Trade (Bristol)
May 20 – Gullivers (Manchester)
May 21 – Moth Club (London)