New York’s self-styled ‘lofi jangle dream slacker bedroom pop’ artist JW FRANCIS releases his new album Dream House today (January 27th) via London-based label Sunday Best Recordings.

Alongside a run of UK in-store dates starting from today and going into next week JW announces he will be returning for a European and UK tour through April and May (dates for both tours below).

Across 12 quirky, technicolour sonic vignettes, JW Francis showcases every side of his wholesome 3D approach to guitar pop. Indie-rock, jangle, slacker, bedroom pop and softly-whirring psych combine to build his ‘Dream House’ – the foundations held in earthy human emotion, with a roof in the clouds.

Opening double-salvo ‘Going Home To A Party’ and ‘Casino’ highlight his penchant for broad-grinning recourse to simple joy, whilst ‘Dream House’ and ‘Sweet As A Rose’ explore floaty subtleties, and ‘I Wanna Be Your Basketball’ leans into bouncy and surreal playfulness.

When JW isn’t writing songs about his own life or off-kilter imagery, he writes about other people – most notably around February when he writes valentines songs on his fans’ behalf. Dream House is in fact built around this collection of glorious tracks written for other people. JW elaborates a little on the premise below:

“Every year, about 6 weeks before Valentine’s Day, I make the following post on social media:

“If you send me the name of your Valentine, and the reason you love them, I’ll write a song for them on your behalf.”

That is how Dream House was born, 3 years ago. Over the past three years, I have received over 300 requests from fans to write songs for their loved ones. All of the songs on Dream House come from this project, some of them have been reworked to speak more to the artist’s life, others have remained exactly as they were first written. Ultimately, this is an album about caring for others, and the way we express it.”

Written and recorded at the start of 2021 in NYC, Dream House takes cues from The Strokes, with hints of Lou Reed, Mac Demarco or Her’s however the project is still quintessential JW Francis. The blissful melodies and dreamy instrumentation perfectly fit the album’s title.

Dream House follows the hugely well received WANDERKID and We Share a Similar Joy in proving that JW is the king of laid-back and effortlessly cool song-making. Released on 27th January, the album will be available on both cream and Green vinyl, as well as CD (pre-order).

JW Francis In-store Dates
January
Friday 27th January – Edinburgh – Assai
Saturday 28th January – Huddersfield – Vinyl Tap (day show)
Saturday 28th January – Leeds – Jumbo
Sunday 29th January – Liverpool – Jacaranda
Monday 30th January – Nottingham – Rough Trade
Tuesday 31st January – Bristol – Rough Trade

February
Wednesday 1st February – London – Rough Trade
Thursday 2nd February – Letchworth – David’s
Friday 3rd February – London – Banquet
Sunday 5th February – Oxford – Truck
Monday 6th February – Portsmouth – Pie & Vinyl
Monday 6th February – Southampton – Vinilo
Saturday 18th February – New York – Rough Trade

JW Francis European / UK Spring Tour
April
Wednesday 26th April – Copenhagen (Denmark) – Vega Ideal Bar
Thursday 27th April – Berlin (Germany) – Schokoladen
Saturday 29th April – Luxembourg – Out Of The Crowd

May
Wednesday 3rd May – Paris (France) – Hasard Ludique
Thursday 4th May – London (UK) – Oslo
Friday 5th May – Liverpool (UK) – Jimmy’s
Saturday 6th May – Glasgow (UK) – The Hug & Pint
Sunday 7th May – Edinburgh (UK) – Sneaky Pete’s
Tuesday 9th May – Newcastle (UK) – The Cluny 2
Wednesday 10th May – Leeds (UK) – Hyde Park Book Club
May 11 @ Night And Day Manchester

Tickets on sale here: https://www.jwfrancis.com/shows