ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Fauvely

Fauvely is Sophie Brochu, Dale Price, Dave Piscotti & Phil Conklin / Photo by Aaron Ehinger

At this point in the pandemic, we’ve all got our list of “things-we-can’t-wait-to-do-after-Covid.” At the very top of my post-pandemic bucket list sits a night out at a venue like Schubas or Empty Bottle, seeing a bill of Chicago bands perform. It may still be a while before we can all gather and experience the magic of the bustling local music scene together, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t new music continuing to be created in the city.

One group that has been hard at work crafting their debut album throughout the past year is Fauvely, the project of songwriter Sophie Brochu and bandmates Dale Price, Dave Piscotti, and Phil Conklin. Following the 2017 EP Watch Me Overcomplicate This, Fauvely gained traction in Chicago performing everywhere from The Hideout to Sleeping Village and Lincoln Hall. The band had kicked off 2020 with a slot playing alongside Hand Habits at the annual Tomorrow Never Knows festival, with plans to tour in Japan and perform as an official showcasing artist at SXSW festival during the spring.

While those tour dates unfortunately never came to fruition, Fauvely reemerged in early 2021 with “May3e,” the lead single off their upcoming album. The track resonates with vulnerability, driven by Brochu’s reflective lyrics and dreamy vocal range. This same sentiment carries over into the latest single that Fauvely released earlier this month. “There’s always a reason to be sad,” Bronchu sings on “Always,” which I think we all can agree rang particularly true during the year 2020.

These two songs lead up to the release of Fauvely’s debut album Beautiful Places, a collection of songs which the band describes as being “about duality: light and dark, memory and haze, being stuck and running away.” Pre-order the record ahead of its April 2nd release date on Bandcamp and check out the video for “May3e” below.