Beach Fossils give a track-by-track guide to new album ‘Bunny’

On Bunny, Beach Fossils have truly hit their stride. On their first album in six years, the Brooklyn group have managed to capture the surf-pop that defined their debut album, while also injecting it with the innovations that followed – shades of indie-pop, lo-fi guitars and experimental vocals can be found here.

As for the meaning of the record, however, only the band truly know what’s happening there. On that note, here’s frontman Dustin Payseur with an exclusive track-by-track look at their latest album.

‘Sleeping on my own‘

It’s about love and and a loss of love. Feeling alone and accepting that loneliness.

‘Run To The Moon‘

Through being an artist, I’ve been lucky enough to carefully create a life where I have absolute freedom. For the past 15 or so years, I could do whatever the fuck I wanted whenever the fuck I wanted. I could be wild all night with my friends and go to bed at 1pm and wake up in the evening and go out and act ignorant with my friends all night again. The idea of having a kid  terrified me because I was scared of losing that freedom. But this freedom not always rosy, and that lifestyle can take a toll on you. I’ve struggled with depression and ADHD and times of self-medicating. My wife inspires me so much, she’s always made me strive to be the best version of myself. She really wanted to have a kid and we talked about it for years. I finally decided that my love for her was so strong that it was worth going for it.

Throughout her pregnancy I was optimistic about becoming a dad, but I had a lot of worries about if I would make a good parent, if I would know what to do and how I would deal with the loss of my personal freedom. But the moment my daughter was born, I immediately was so in love with her that all of my fears instantly melted away. She is now the most important thing in my life. The joy I get from parenthood is stronger than anything else in the world, it’s impossible to explain. My daughter constantly inspires me to be a better person. I still dealing with personal/internal struggles despite all of this love that I have, but that’s the human experience. All I know is I’m happier than I was before and I still have tons of freedom to live a fulfilling life with my friends and as an artist.

‘Don’t Fade Away‘

This song is about missing friends, falling in love, small moments, embracing your mistakes and continuing to make them because you like them and it’s a part of what makes you who you are.

‘Just Like The Setting Sun‘

I had anger issues growing up. I’ve mostly healed those now though. When I started to develop myself and better myself, I used to have sort of hippie idealizations of peace and love, but I also had a lot of conflicting beliefs and was learning from them. I think it’s important to constantly be contradicting yourself, it means you’re still growing and learning and bettering yourself. The chorus is about loving somebody for who they are and seeing what they’re all about. Seeing who they really are and who they want to be and understanding the vision they have for the life they want. And I don’t know if anybody else sees it, but I do and I’m here with them and for them. Over the past few years I’ve fallen in love with Los Angeles, a lot of my friends have moved there out of New York because they were over it here. They were over how harsh NY was, but I still love it. Some people make New York out to be a horrible place, but it’s been the best place for me. I came here broke and alone and was so depressed but then I found my way. It’s home.

‘Anything Is Anything‘

Years ago I was prescribed Ativan for anxiety, but also prescribed Adderall for ADHD. I’ve always hated coffee, but I literally just started drinking coffee for the first time in my life to write the lyrics for this record because Adderall gave me such awful headaches that I hated taking it. So I found myself drinking tons of coffee to work on lyrics, and taking Ativan to take the anxiety off of the coffee. I liked the feeling of the two together, I think it was good for my creativity, but I also knew it wasn’t a sustainable option. Often, I’ve spent all day in bed lazy and depressed, dreaming of abetter life. I think I’ve found it.

‘Dare Me’

Feeling perpetually alone and then finally feeling a meaningful connection with another person. Falling in love. Having new adventures with this person.

‘Feel So High‘

For the past 20 years I’ve been very into Taoism. I wouldn’t call myself a Taoist because a lot of decisions and actions in my life conflict with that, but I’ve learned a lot from it. Everything you need is within you already. It’s easy but people make it out to be hard. Everybody desires what other people desire, just because other people desire it, but they don’t even know if that’s what they really want for themselves. I have moments of feeling high from ignoring all of the external bullshit and just looking inside. Hatred is predictable because it’s easy. People are tribal, hate and greed is the default human way. Love is learned. It’s harder to love than to hate, but people take the easy way out. So many people hate other people who aren’t like themselves, and it tears us apart as a society. Will accepting and embracing somebody who isn’t like you, or will fighting for somebody who isn’t like you actually change the world or will it not make a difference because people are so fucked and too far gone? I don’t know. Just escape the noise and do what you believe is right.

‘Tough Love‘

It’s about realising somebody close to you wasn’t your friend after all.

‘Seconds‘

Realising you love somebody more than they love you.

‘Numb‘

This line sums it up, “I feel nothing, I feel numb. I feel something, I feel dumb.”

‘Waterfall‘

I have a family member who went through a battle with cancer. Throughout it all, they were so optimistic and I was immensely inspired by their strength and bravery in the face of something so real and so harsh and so immediate. It was hard for us, it changed the mood of the family for a while, it’s like there was this dark cloud hanging around and all the uncertainty was heavy. But they continued to use all of their energy to stay positive, and this positivity was electric and carried through the family. I’m so happy to say they survived and came out on the other side with a new perspective on life. I’ve truly never been more inspired by somebody in my entire life. I love them so much and this song is an homage to their strength and optimism.