Today, Chicago band Friko — vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — presents their new single/video, “For Ella,” from their forthcoming debut album, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, out February 16, 2024 on ATO Records. Where we’ve been, Where we go from here achieves a dreamlike grandeur on “For Ella,” a love song sketched by Kapetan after visiting a graveyard in Wisconsin. In bringing the piano-laced reverie to life, Friko worked with violinist and Chicago stalwart Macie Stewart, as well as cellistAlejandro Quiles, elevating the track into a quietly symphonic epic touched with a lovely melancholy.

Following lead single “Crashing Through,” the “For Ella” video is again helmed by Alice Avery (a testament to Friko’s tight-knit group of friends and collaborators) and is a feat in stop-motion animation, vividly translating the song’s fabled qualities. “‘For Ella’ is our ode to classical music and we knew from the beginning we wanted the song to go side by side with a stop motion video,” says the band. “We’ve been working with our close friend Alice Avery, who also went to the same high school as us, on various videos, but the connection between this video and song feel particularly special to us.”

Watch Friko’s “For Ella” Video

It’s been an exciting few weeks since Friko announced Where we’ve been, Where we go from here. Paste ran an in-depth feature on the band and Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, and Guitar World all covered “Crashing Through” as well. The song was also featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday, All New Indie, Today’s Indie Rock, and Fresh Finds Rock playlists in addition to the New Noise cover. “Crashing Through” continues the success of “Crimson to Chrome,” a downhearted yet exultant track that reigned #1 on the Sirius XMU chart for three weeks, graced the cover of Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist, and garnered acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, FLOOD, and Consequence, who praised Friko for “carrying on the great Chicago musical tradition of unpretentious fun.”

Watch “Crashing Through” Video

Watch “Crimson to Chrome” Lyric Video

The band is currently on tour, having just completed a run of East Coast shows in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and New York City last week. They’ll continue across the Midwest this weekend with shows in Milwaukee and Madison. More dates will be announced soon!

Friko Tour Dates

Sat. Dec. 9 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club

Sun. Dec. 10 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon

An essential new addition to Chicago’s long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transform every song into a moment of collective catharsis. On their full-length debut and first release for ATO Records, the band merges elements of post-punk and chamber-pop and experimental rock, magnifying their music’s exhilarating power with a steady barrage of spirited gang vocals. Poetic, explosive, and sublimely raw in feeling, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here brings an equally visceral intensity to brutally heavy anthems and heart-on-sleeve ballads alike, creating an immediate outlet for the most unwieldy emotions.

Formed in 2019, Friko soon began taking the stage at legendary Chicago venues like the Metro, Empty Bottleand Schubas Tavern, self-releasing their acclaimed debut EP Whenever Forever in 2022 and making their festival debut at Bonnaroo the following spring. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aim to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc. Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Big Thief) and engineered by Jack Henry and Scott Tallarida, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here embodies a sonic complexity befitting of a band that names Romantic-era classical music and the more primal edges of art-rock among their inspirations. Friko hopes that their music’s emotional potency might have a galvanizing impact on audiences. Niko says, “I want our music to pick people up, so that they can actually go out and do something with whatever they’re feeling.”

Pre-order Where we’ve been, Where we go from here

Download hi-res images & jpegs of Friko

“Friko are animated, direct and vividly in-sync. And the world has never needed that kind of joyous, purposeful brilliance more than it does right now.” — Paste

“Bouncing and woozily melodic, the first single from Chicago two-piece Friko’s debut album drops discordance alongside brainworm hooks.” — Guitar World

“[‘Crashing Through’ is] a sweeping and hooky indie rock song with a great sense of dynamics.” — Brooklyn Vegan