'Visitors' – frYars featuring Dave Gahan

• 1st Feb 2009

'Visitors' is the new single from frYars, aka 19 year-old Londoner Ben Garrett. An enigmatic slice of electro-pop noir, it provides the first taste of his exceptional debut album, Dark Young Hearts which is scheduled for a May '09 release. Featuring backing vocals from Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, who asked to contribute after hearing producer Luke Smith working on the track in his New York studio, the track is currently available as a free download before its physical release in March, backed with a remix from legendary producer Stephen Hague.

FrYars ambitious songwriting has earned him comparisons to artists as varied as David Bowie, Nick Cave, Daniel Johnston, Rufus Wainwright and Lloyd Cole. His two EP releases thus far – 'The Ides EP' and 'Perfidy EP' – were warmly received by media and music lovers alike in the UK, and word of frYars talents rapidly spread across the water with music bloggers across the US, Japan and Europe singing his praises.

Dark Young Hearts continues to develop the themes that frYars outlined in these early releases: conflicts between reason and passion, between reality and spirituality, are played out through the experiences of his artfully drawn protagonists. The album is neither light-hearted nor earnest, and there are more than a few moments that will drive the more forward thinking dancefloor into a frenzy.

Never one to take the beaten path when the road less travelled beckons, frYars has decided against releasing the album via an established record company, instead putting the release out on his own frYarcorp label, with funding from the groundbreaking new initiative Bandstocks. A new system that empowers both music fans and artists by encouraging them to take control and collaborate directly with one another, you can find out more about Bandstocks at link.

FrYars' captivating, idiosyncratic live performances are not easily forgotten, and impressed Goldfrapp so much that they took him and his band along as support on their UK tour earlier last year. There are plans for some rather special live events in early 2009, so watch this space…