VIcKy FAREWELL - give A DAMN - MAC’S RECORD LABEL

Hailing from Orange County, California, indie pop artist Vicky Farewell discovered her passion for the piano as a child from attending weekly church services. This early fascination for music prompted her to study classical repertoire for 10 years, with a curiosity for advanced harmony leading Farewell to scour public library branches throughout Southern California for jazz records by Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Renee Rosnes. Eventually Farewell’s musical journey found her digging through the local music shops at the Asian Garden Mall in Little Saigon where she discovered bootleg copies of American popular music, 90s R&B, Y2K Eurodance mixes and post-war Vietnamese-American popular songs. These diverse influences coupled with her lone dedication to musical study laid the foundation for her distinctive artistry.

While it took a complete global shutdown for Farewell to write what would become her first solo songs, the resulting album—her debut, Sweet Company, was well worth the wait. A polyphony of bedroom pop and soul, Sweet Company was released in 2021 on Mac DeMarco’s label, Mac’s Record Label, and hailed by the likes of SPIN as "a dreamy, joyful reflection on the pain of change." 

Looking to showcase her growth as an artist, Farwell’s new album, staunchly titled Give A Damn, signifies a notable shift for the artist. Lyrically mature, personal and sincere, the album marks a departure from Farewell's days of a youthful musician crafting pop songs to that of a stoic, unflinching storyteller guiding her audience along an existential tour. Entirely self-written and produced from her Los Angeles apartment, Give A Damn delves into emotional complexity, insecurity and attachment. ”“I needed to embrace vulnerability in order to meet my deeper self," Farewell explains. "These songs came from a real place." 

While sorting through storage, Farewell rediscovered her first synthesizer from the early 2000s--a Yamaha S08--a sentimental keyboard which served as a catalyst for much of Give A Damn, contributing to its romantic digital soundscape. “The S08 ignited a flame once I started writing my songs,” she reveals. “I found a part of myself again that gave me what I needed to set the tone for the record."