Foreign Film take their name from a song on Will Haven’s 1997 debut “El Diablo”, which gives you most of what you need to know about Jeff Irwin’s intentions for the project.
The Sacramento guitarist and primary songwriter of Will Haven started writing for Foreign Film in 2023 to chase down ideas that wouldn’t fit inside his main band’s metallic hardcore: Pink Floyd, Mew, Hum, The Cure. After a year of demos he pulled in Will Haven drummer Mitch Wheeler, guitarist Sean Bivins, and bassist Adrien Contreras, and a full year of sessions began at J Rigged Studios in Sacramento, with Weston Ray and Robert Kerr producing and engineering.
The lineup expanded across those sessions to include Robin Florkin on piano and keyboards, Rylan Kerr on guitar, and Tami Taracena on backing vocals.
“After two years of hard work, we are very excited to put this record into the world, we are happy with how this record turned out,” Irwin says. “With new friends and collaborations along this journey, this was one of our favorite records to make. We’re looking forward to what comes in the future.”
The result is “A Love Letter”, a ten-song debut out today via self-release on LP and digital, with cover art by Michael Cobra. Three songs are already available ahead of release: “Kwen”, “Black Sky”, and “Santa Carla”, with a visualizer for “Black Sky” and an official video for “Santa Carla”. Foreign Film play their record release show on June 19th at Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville, California, with Simon Says, before further US and Europe dates to follow.
Below, Irwin walks through every track on the record. Check it out below, alongside the newest music video for the song “Somnolence”.
“Aprile”
The opener moved through several shapes before settling. “This song took on many forms, but what we ended up with became a great opening track for the record,” Irwin says. “It defines what Foreign Film is, big: cinematic and full of emotion.”
“Kwen”
One of the earliest pieces written under the Foreign Film name. “We wanted an up-tempo beat but with some atmosphere to it,” Irwin says. “It was an experiment to see where we could go with our sound.”
“Wish”
A song that almost ended up on a Will Haven record instead. “This was originally a possible Will Haven song, but it was molded into a Foreign Film song,” Irwin says. “The hard part was trying to a vocal part for it since we originally thought it would be something else. I think we liked the idea of the heaviness but with somber vocals over it.”
“Santa Carla”
This one had been sitting in Irwin’s demos folder for over a decade. “This song has been around for over 12 years in my demos. I’ve never had a place for it until Foreign Film was created, and it was one of the first songs I finished when Foreign Film began writing music. It’s called Santa Carla after the movie Lost Boys, because I wrote the majority of the song in Santa Cruz, CA.”
“Sol”
A direct nod to Hum. “This is my HUM influenced track; that band changed my view on how to write songs,” Irwin says. “The heavy shoegazey with dreamy vocals, something so magical about that. We tried to put our own spin on it and I love the way it came out. I find myself listening to this track quite a bit.”
“Somnolence”
A track that opened up once guitarist Rylan Kerr brought in a part of his own. “One of my favorite tracks on the record, this one has a Cure/Depeche Mode vibe, which are two of my favorite bands,” Irwin says. “This track was fairly basic but then our guitarist Rylan came up with the guitar hook and changed the vibe. Vocally, I am proud of this song; the ending just came together really cool vocally and musically.”
“Terrace”
A handful of firsts here: a time signature Foreign Film hadn’t used before, and Irwin’s first proper guitar solo on a record. “I wanted a time signature that we are not normally known for, so I wrote with that in mind. I really wanted a song with a guitar solo in it just because I had never really done that. I just wanted something in a David Gimour style to fit the vibe. There were a lot of firsts for me on this record, which was a lot of fun.”
“Black Sky”
The first song ever written for Foreign Film, and the piece that set the rest of the project in motion. “This was a song that had been around for a long time, and we actually recorded a few versions of it over the years but never released it,” Irwin says, “so after we pulled this song out, it pretty much set the whole project going forward and what to build from.”
“Love Letter”
The title track grew out of a small fragment. “This song just started out with the few notes at the beginning and then just built from that; one of those big cinematic tracks that we love to write.” The lyrics circle back to the album’s thread. “Lyrically, I wanted to write about all the things I have fallen in love with: music, relationships, hobbies, and how amazing they are, but at the same time can break your heart and become a burden or curse.”
“Essen”
The closer belongs to keyboardist Robin Florkin. “This song was written by our keyboard player Robin Florkin,” Irwin says. “He plays on this whole record, but I wanted him to have his own song. He’s an amazing player and I thought he needed his space on it. A great closing piece to an emotional record.”
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