The perfect summer anthem to keep you going through this period, friends* is sure to strike a chord within you with its relatable lyricism and gripping melodies.

Los Angeles-based duo Moby Rich perfectly captures the feeling of frustration that accompanies the desire of a friendship blossoming into something more in their exuberant new single friends*. In collaboration with Bishop Briggs, the newest single is a hot contender for one of the top tracks of this summer and any attempts to resist the hooking chorus would be completely futile – although you wouldn’t want to anyways. The track comes at you with all of the swagger and energy of an angsty teenager, riddled with lax bass-lines and adrenaline-fuelled guitar melodies. The vocals reflect the conflicted emotional turmoil driving the track, as it shifts from being lackadaisical in the verses to fully charged in the pummelling chorus. Coming to terms with their honest feelings that ‘I don’t want to say goodbye’, the rawness behind the track makes it a compelling listen and it will make you want to hit the replay button on repeat.

Moby Rich divulges more information on the collaboration with Bishop Briggs, sharing:

When we wrote ‘friends*’ with Bishop, it was our first time meeting her. Sometimes sessions have a way of just giving you a song, and the second we started writing, the words and melodies just started to flow. It’s pretty wild when we get to work with people that we’ve heard on the radio so many times. It’s also nice when they are super chill and wholly authentic. For us, ‘friends*’ is a song about having feelings for someone that you’ve only seen as a friend and realizing that you have to eventually tell them how you feel if you want things to move forward or change. Also, the song is about the anxiety and fear of what the response may be to tell that person that you want to be ‘more than friends’, knowing very well that it may mess up what you once had.

Bishop adds her perspective on working with Moby Rich on the track, chiming in:

‘friends*’ describes the frustrating yet beautiful cycle of disappointment, hope, bliss, chaos, addiction and love. Wanting something you can’t have can be very alluring and can consume your every thought. I had been singing ‘I hate that I want to be more than friends’ when I was briefly reminded of a guy friend of mine who I previously felt that way for. I was reminded of all the moments I looked far too deeply into and the memories I replayed in my mind in the hopes of us being something more.

I am a big fan of Moby Rich, and I reached out to them directly to see if they would have any interest in writing! Thankfully, they were up for it, and before I knew it I was in a cozy room with them sharing this idea I had. We quickly began recording a layout of the track on our phones and decided to record it officially at a later date. Soon enough, we were all playing this rough voice memo from our phones on repeat whenever we could. Sometimes you know if a song has potential if you can hear it acoustically, and it still moves you. It felt like something special from the moment we began writing, and I hope you feel the same.