Exclaim! Class of 2024 grads Bestfriend are back, and they have some questions. The bicoastal indie pop duo of Vancouver's Stacy Kim and Toronto's Kaelan Geoffrey return today with their yearning first new single of the year, "WHY DO WE DO THIS?"
Arriving ahead of their opening set at Valley's hometown show at Toronto's History next month via Nettwerk, the new track follows Bestfriend's 2023 EP, places i've left — the sister project to 2021's places i've lived.
"There's this thing that happens to us when we go through hardship where we start to tighten our grip on the things in life we love and care about — and therefore are afraid to lose," the pair said of the song. "This pops up in our relationships, in our work, in our money, in our art, and often has the contradictory and unintended effect of no longer bringing our truest selves to these things. When that switch flips, we are operating nearly universally under decisions made by fear and self-preservation. A watched pot never boils; a phone waiting for a call never rings; a love scaffolded by fear is no longer a love at all. To love is to let go, and none of us seem capable of doing so."
Defying the weight of its subject matter with a peppy drum machine loop and an ascendent chord progression, "WHY DO WE DO THIS?" comes alongside a video shot and edited by @justbeingkyle, apparently made with a green screen and a dream. Check it out below.