Following a busy 2019 that saw Peach Tree Rascals sink its teeth into the music industry with a handful of successful singles — including the aptly-titled “Summa” and the free-flowing, breezy yet yearning “Mariposa” — the Los Angeles-based five-piece is taking its first bite into 2020 with “Things Won’t Go My Way,” also exclusively premiering the track’s music video today (March 27) on Billboard.
Like many other of the collective’s prior entries, “Things Won’t Go My Way” bends genre seamlessly, bouncing around from indie rock to hip-hop to everything in between. The chorus sees the group at its most pop-leaning and catchy, lingering on the final few letters of the song title in sing-songy yo-yo fashion.
According to producer/mixer Dom Pizano, the single came together just a few months ago while hanging out with friends and collaborators Ryan Raines and Gabe Reali in North Hollywood. Though the group was going through a tough time, grappling with a few unplanned reschedulings (including a tour), they wanted to write a song about overcoming feelings of self-doubt.
“I think we all feel like the world is against us sometimes, but it’s a matter of perspective and realizing that it’s how you look at things,” Pizano tells Billboard. “We always try to portray that positivity and optimism in our music.”
It’s the group’s first single since signing to 10K/Homemade Projects, the joint venture between the Elliot Grainge-fronted record label and the Zach Friedman- and Tony Talamo-led digital marketing firm. And though rapper-singer Tarrek Abdel-Khaliq notes that there’s now a larger team supporting Peach Tree Rascals, the collective’s creative process has widely remained the same.
“We have more resources to promote everything we’re creating, but we want things to still feel like they’re done in the shed back in San Jose,” he says. “We want to maintain our DIY approach.”
The theme for the music video pulls specifically from 1998 Oscar-nominated film The Truman Show — its frequent “what else could go wrong?” type gaffes that result in audience amusement at the expense of the protagonists, as well as heavy usage of fish-eye lens, is reminiscent of the Jim Carrey-fronted movie.
“Things Won’t Go My Way” looks to just be the beginning of a potential big year for the five-piece, with Joseph Barros hinting that there may be plenty of more material in store throughout 2020. That said, he admits that the group has been forced to adjust plans given the current coronavirus-related concerns around the world.
“We have loads of new music that we’re excited to share,” he teases. “Things have been shifted a bit for everyone’s safety, but we have seen this time as an opportunity to continue practicing and creating more content. I think fans will be excited to see what we have come up with.”
Check out Peach Tree Rascals’ first new single of the decade by watching the music video for “Things Won’t Go My Way” below.
