Brother duo Eighty Ninety are stuck in an unrequited past love, wondering whether they would be Better As Friends.

Comprising of brothers Abner and Harper James, the NYC-based indie duo Eighty Ninety have been refining their distinctive “808s and telecasters” sound for the past few years, gearing up for a promising decade ahead. They have deservingly garnered over 26 million streams since the release of their debut EP Elizabeth, and even been hand-picked by Taylor Swift for her official Spotify playlist ‘Songs Taylor Loves’ – and let’s be honest nothing can beat that, right?

Better As Friends marks the third striking release from Eighty Ninety this year, following their previous singles Happier and Know Me, and simultaneously finds the duo stepping deeper and deeper into experimenting with more anthemic sonics. The track’s captivating hook is build on dreamy, lo-fi psychedelic beats and heavenly vocals as they ponder on the unrequited feelings from a past love: “I don’t want to give this up / So here I am living in the past again / But once you tell someone that you know they’re the one and you love ’em / Can you really be better as friends?”

Speaking of the latest single, Eighty Ninety share:

‘Better as Friends’ is about wanting to stay connected to someone you once loved – but how holding on to that feeling can be even more painful than letting it go. It’s about the desire to live in the past rather than face the end, and how loving someone can mean wanting the best for them even if that no longer includes you.