Aotearoa-born, Sydney-based alt-pop aficionados Foley have spent the last year acknowledging life’s many twists and tumbles. While it can knock you down or lift you up, the decision to surpass it sits right in the palm of your hands, or for Foley, through the ink of their pens and the sounds of their demos. Emerging from the debris and rubble of life’s unpredictable chaos, the duo knew they wanted their artistry to soar to new heights. With new stories to tell, and new ways to tell them, Foley curiously explore the chaos of life, loss, love and trauma through their sophomore project That’s Life, Baby!.

Remaining optimistic in the face of adversity is no easy feat. But for Foley, dealing with setbacks together is a simple reminder that they’re not alone in all of this.

“We go through highs and lows, love, loss, trauma, but at the end of the day we are positive, light-hearted and optimistic because we have each other through it all,” they said. 

“The album is a collection of stories and experiences from the last year, each track describing an interaction with those around us, or a realisation within ourselves, that has had a lasting impact on us as people; each one a little slice of our lives.”

On That’s Life, Baby!, the duo felt they needed to “really trust themselves as songwriters”. The result, of course, is a dancefloor-ready mix of 80s inspired synth pop and disco, packaged together with stories that traverse “everything from grief and heartbreak, to giddy joy and romance”. The project is sweet and vulnerable, and its sentiments are gut-wrenchingly familiar. An introspective look into your own toxicity can only be well-digested when enveloped by dreamy pop guitar melodies. Thanks to Foley, their brooding yet bubbly approach to the project offers a shoulder to lean on and much appreciated food for thought. By the end of it, you can’t help but agree that maybe everything will be okay after all.

For The Music, Ash Wallace and Gabriel Everett (the geniuses behind Foley) take us through the emotional ground that allowed for That’s Life, Baby! to blossom.

That’s Life, Baby!

We simply had to start the album with this song - it’s by far the most beloved thing we’ve ever written! Like the majority of this record, we wrote this away on a song camp with Harry and Josh, and we were trying to tap into something a little less intense and vulnerable than the other album tracks we’d written. This is our villain song - it’s inspired by all our collective dating mishaps and funny stories, about looking out for your own feelings, and the chaos that can happen when someone inevitably falls in love and it doesn’t go according to plan! It’s cheeky, fun and a bit selfish.

We’d actually finished the entire song and vocal melody earlier in the day, without writing any lyrics - so came back to write them later on, when we were feeling more villainous and mischievous! The whole experience was so much fun, and kinda reflects that bizarre, selfish fun that you can have while dating.

Low and High

There’s such a fun atmosphere to Low and High, it’s a fan favourite and such a celebration of the ups & downs of a relationship. It’s a light hearted reminder that we all get stuck in a bad space sometimes, act a little out of turn; but can also fall head over heels in love the next day. You gotta ride the waves right? Also - this one was actually the first song that Josh and Harry and us had written a song from scratch together! We kept in a lot of first takes, and you can still hear us chatting away in the background of the acoustic guitar tracks in the song - really amplifying that atmosphere.

Heartstrings

Heartstrings is our obsession track. When you’re pining after someone and the lust & rush of a new fling becomes super addictive and overwhelming! The production of this track is really hypnotic as well, we wanted to make it quite driving and powerful, but with a super slick earworm of a vocal melody. It’s That’s Life, Baby!’s purest pop song I reckon! Super relatable and ridiculously fun to play live. Love love love. 

Cardio

I think we’ve all seen that meme of the dude chewing a girl's ear off at a party right? That’s pretty much this track - we fell in love with the lyric “running your mouth, doing cardio” and built a song around it. It’s the song that’d be playing inside your head while you’re trying not to have this other person ruin your night! It’s quite kooky and playful - I remember wanting to write a really funky bassline and Harry & Josh obliged on the production - crafting something super bouncy and syncopated. Love this one.

Fever

Fever is the sister song to the title track That’s Life, Baby!. It’s the continuation of the story and characters from the first track, about a past love lingering on and still not thinking it’s over. It’s not spiteful, but it’s a bit of an eye roll & a “get off my back!!” kinda track (there was a particular story where a friend’s ex kept showing up at every party a few years back - so drew quite a bit of inspiration from that!). Sometimes you just gotta be solo and have fun right?

Back To Me

This is the most vulnerable and personal track on the album, and was really challenging to write. It’s about watching someone you love experience grief and devastating loss, and seeing them callous & change as a result of it. It’s a reminder that we carry our life’s experience with us in our bodies, minds and hearts - always growing and learning and doing the best we can. Watching someone go through hardship is heartbreaking and this was a little bit of catharsis when we were feeling helpless on the sidelines.

Unstable

Unstable is about owning your own toxicity. It speaks to the way that we can all behave erratically, chaotically, and completely out of order in our relationships - despite having good intentions. This song is about owning your own failures and faults, and being grateful that your partner chooses you anyway. Writing this song was truly cathartic in the sense that we spoke deeply and honestly about our worst tendencies in a relationship, but in the process we took responsibility for that and moved forward. It also has a light hearted tone that helps to package a vulnerable confession into a more jovial and loveable package.

This was also a really honest track - about owning your own toxicity and admitting that you can be chaotic and out of line, despite your best intentions. It’s an admission of fault but also a deep appreciation for your significant other, who chooses you anyway and helps you become a better person. The chorus is quite the mantra! I vividly remember the session for this song because the track came together so fast. We all started writing our own little parts - Harry was trying out the 6/8 shuffle beat, Ash was writing the lyrics and I was trying out the chord progression on the guitar. Each part flowed out of us really quickly and once we put it all together it worked like magic. Just goes to show that we were all on the same wavelength that day. This is a special one for sure.

Time Of My Life

This was one of the first songs we wrote for the album! Fresh off of our debut record Crowd Pleaser, we decided to get back into the studio with Josh and write the most upbeat, excitable and over-the-top track we could. We wrote this in the studio downstairs at Gabe’s house, sunlight beaming in through the garage door, just getting giddy with excitement and joy. Thematically it’s simultaneously a celebration of life, but also the feeling the frustration of not being where you want to be, and patiently waiting your turn. Making sure you maximise every opportunity and roll through every “summer” with the chaos, energy and life that it deserves! This one is such a fun one to play live too, we’ve been closing out our sets with it and getting the shouts in the chorus out is amazing!

Miss You All The Time

Both Josh and us had similar experiences with being away from home, in LA trying to make your dreams come true - and realising there’s always going to be a bittersweet feeling no matter how incredible these trips can be. We’ve all wanted to run away and become the best versions of ourselves, but this track is a reminder that we’re made better by the people around us - not the other way around. The bright lights and big city can feel meaningless if you’re not experiencing them with the ones you love - so it’s really a song about patience and waiting until you can experience it with them too.

Never Feels Like Summer

That’s Life, Baby! covers a lot of emotional ground, so having this one as the album’s closer gives it a really peaceful, hopeful ending that just felt right. We were trying to paint some visuals with this one, and immortalise the intimate, everyday moments that happen with your significant other. It’s a celebration of all those little times you look over at them and remember you’re in love. This is probably the purest love song Foley’s ever written - so enjoy it, ya lovebirds!

That’s Life, Baby is out now on all streaming platforms.

Foley have also announced a limited run of album launch shows across New South Wales and Victoria, as well as shows supporting Strange Talk. Check out below where you can see them live next.

THAT’S LIFE, BABY!  TOUR

Sunday March 9th King St Newcastle w/ Grace Aberhart  TICKETS

Friday March 14th Towradgi Beach Hotel Wollongong w/ YAHYAH & Sickbay  TICKETS

Saturday April 19th Bergy Bandroom Melbourne supporting Strange Talk  TICKETS

Saturday April 26th Bootleggers Sydney supporting Strange Talk  TICKETS