Though the new song from Real Friends is quiet in sound, it’s a song full of deafening emotion – so much, you’ll feel it from your toes all up to your teeth. At the start of “Teeth,” premiering here on HollywoodLife, vocalist Cody Muraro sits shrouded in shadows, and for a good reason. Once the light hits him, it’s clear he’s been through some stuff. One part endurance anthem (“These last two years were the worst years of my life / Left me fucked up past the point of ever believing that I’d get by”) and one part heartbreak (I call your phone, you don’t pick up / It’s pointless to hope cause I know you’re gone”), Real Friends have crafted a song that roars, past fat lips and bruised cheeks and straight to your heart.
While fans of Real Friends – Brian Blake, Kyle Fasel, Dave Knox, Eric Haines, and Cody Muraro – have heard them perform acoustically before (specifically on 2012’s Acoustic Songs and the 2015’s More Acoustic Songs), this track is a slight departure – sorta. “The full band version of ‘Teeth’ is different for us,” Kyle Fasel shares with HollywoodLife. “We’ve always turned full band songs into acoustic versions. It was fun to do the opposite with ‘Teeth.’ It brings out more aggression that fits the lyrical content perfectly. I’m so stoked for fans to hear this.”
For Cody, the song is a “very personal” one. “It touches on some of the years leading up to just before I joined Real Friends,” he shares. “I had gone through some of the most challenging years of my life. After sharing some of my experiences with the group and [producer] Andrew Wade, Andrew said, ‘Ok, brutal, now let’s turn that into a song.’” However, at first, the ‘full band’ version of the song wasn’t clicking. “We weren’t ready to give up on it yet, though,” adds Cody. “Once the idea of jamming things out on an acoustic came up, everything started to fall into place. We were really able to find what the song was supposed to be and see how much it meant to us.”
The new song heralds Torn In Two, a new EP from the Illinois rock outfit, and the first major project since 2018’s Composure. “Torn In Two is a great showcase of things to come. We really took our time deciding the best songs to represent us and this new chapter,” says Cody. “These 5 songs are a look at what we’ve been working on and shows how the band has grown and evolved while yet remaining Real Friends.”
“I really liked how we were able to incorporate the Torn In Two theme throughout. The album artwork being people separated. The 5 main songs on one side and five alternates on the other,” he adds. “I think the past year has left a lot of us feeling torn, scrambling to reconnect with a sense of familiarity. I feel music and these songs bring things back together for me. I hope these songs can make you feel connected in just the same way.”
Torn In Two arrives on 9/17. Preorder the EP here.