asking for a friend

Bedroom pop sensations DYSN and Lostboycrow teamed up in 2020 for this lo-fi project inspired by classic '50s vocal pop, doo wop, and Nashville countrypolitan. DYSN met Lostboycrow when he supported him on the third leg of his Traveler tour in spring 2020, and they decided to collaborate on a new project, debuting in March with the single "Pretty Girl." While both artists' solo work had a genre-melding sound that mashed the old and new together, the Asking for a Friend material had a distinctly old-fashioned style. Modeled on classic '50s vocal pop, doo wop, and Nashville countrypolitan, plus a '70s aesthetic of wide-collared shirts and faded Polaroid photographs, it combined Lostboycrow's crooning vocals with DYSN's lo-fi guitar style. Four more singles followed in quick succession, including "Dream Boat" and "I Need Someone." These tracks were collected on the album Asking for a Friend, which appeared in July. Later in the year, the duo released the single "Summer Sky," which had more polished production and featured drums for the first time. The holiday singles "My Only Little Wish (Is You)" and "Where the Treetops Glisten" followed at the end of the year. ~ John D. Buchanan