Originally from Chicagoland, Illinois and now based out of Los Angeles, Jennie Lawless is a musician and artist, with a personality she describes as, “a cross between Winnie-the-Pooh and the archangel Gabriel played by Tilda Swinton in the 2006 film Constantine starring Keanu Reeves.” Now try and tell us that image hasn’t got you intrigued? After releasing the very practically titled, Two Songs EP, Jennie recently returned with the excellent, You Don’t Have To Call Me On Your Birthday. Wasting no time in getting more music out into the world, today we’re premiering Jennie’s brand new single, My Good Friend Richard.

Describing the track, Jennie has suggested My Good Friend Richard is, “a song about loving your friends, even if you don’t understand them”. Richard, by all accounts is a somewhat enigmatic character, “Richard is the friend you tell a story about to strangers because he’s so unusual, but you can’t decide if you’re being unkind to him by sharing because you’ve never quite figured out how Richard thinks. Richard is the irrelevance of alikeness and understanding; an appreciation of the unknowable.” Do we all know a Richard? A larger than life character, who intrigues and amuses in equal measure, a good friend, “but not my best friend.”

The somewhat unusual subject matter is not only matched by the excellent hair of the man featured on the album artwork, but also the wonky-pop perfection of the music. Alive with skittering drums and the shimmering wonders of retro-Casio keys, the whole thing has an atmosphere of not quite being entirely as it initially seems; like a suburban estate from a TV series you just know is going to be awash with secrets and lies. At the front of the whole thing is Jennie’s vocal, which seems to move subtly between moods, initially there’s a beautiful country-twang, yet as the track slides through the gears, Jennie seems to become gradually more urgent and concerned, as she pleads, “you’re not well, you’re not well get some help”. The whole track is utterly compelling, a mysterious puzzle of musical and lyrical ideas just waiting to be pawed over and unravelled; an invitation to step into Jennie Lawless’ world, just don’t be sure you’ll ever be able to drag yourself away from it.

My Good Friend Richard is out now. Click HERE for more information on Jennie Lawless.