Fransancisco premieres the video for “What Happens Now,” the second single from their debut I Went to the Sea to Be Free, today (April 13) on Billboard.
The California-based sibling duo of Isaac and Thorald Koren — which first gained prominence as alternative rock outfit The Kin and more recently delivered music as the electro-influenced Braves — will launch a new chapter of its soulful, contemplative output with the album, which is due this summer on Rockwood Music Hall Records/The Orchard.
The brothers cowrote “What Happens Now” with their mother, Madeline McRae, last fall. In light of the coronavirus epidemic, they recognize that “we’re all faced with this question in the title of the song,” as Isaac says.
However, “In a way, our musical journey together as brothers began with our mother setting sail on a bold adventure from Australia to New York. She went against her maternal instincts, into the unknown, to find her voice,” he explains. “‘What Happens Now’ speaks to that moment of life for her.”
Other women also have played important roles in Fransancisco. The name was supplied by Thorald’s young daughter, Willow, who accidentally mispronounced “San Francisco” when he and Isaac asked their children what they should name their latest musical persona.
I Went to the Sea to Be Free is dedicated to their paternal grandmother, Evelyn, whom they never had a chance to meet. The fiercely independent woman, who was a pilot, “flew her plane out over the Southern Ocean on Mother’s Day in 1974 and was never seen again,” says Isaac.
The Korens formed Fransancisco after longtime friend Ken Rockwood, owner of Manhattan’s Rockwood Music Hall, asked if they ever had considered making an acoustic album. The three of them then spent a year working on it. Another friend, Grammy Award-wining producer-engineer-mixer Nic Hard (Snarky Puppy, 98 Degrees), produced the record.
Fransancisco made their official debut at Rockwood Music Hall on Feb. 20 as part of the venue’s concert series celebrating its 15-year anniversary. For the time being, the pair is doing weekly live performances for fans on Instagram and Facebook, for Isaac says he and Thorald hope that “What Happens Now,” as well as the rest of their music, “can offer some solace or some inspiration in a time we’re all crossing unchartered waters.”
Watch the video, where the pair struggles with what direction to follow next after an unexpected mishap, below.
