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For as much as the world has changed since Real Friends first emerged in 2010, the band’s mission hasn’t. The Chicago, Illinois quintet continue to bleed without apology and write songs that make it okay to feel everything: The ups, the downs, and everything else in between.

Rather than shy away from emotion, the renowned group runs right towards it with distortion cranked and hearts opened, tightening their careful distillation of pop-punk and emo on each subsequent release.

When the band — made up of longtime friends Dave Knox [guitar], Kyle Fasel [bass/lyrics], Eric Haines [guitar], and Brian Blake [drums] — welcomed Cody Muraro [vocals/lyrics] in 2020, the goal stayed the same as they crafted new music.

“It’s really still the same mission,” affirms Fasel. “We write songs you can connect to. We want those songs to be a part of your life as much as they’re a part of our lives.”“This band is everything to us,” he adds. “We’re all so invested in every aspect. We’re more grateful than ever for Real Friends.”

The band’s forthcoming 13-track album “Blue Hour” (set to release October 11th 2024) is a shift from previous works, reaching even deeper into complex emotions and subject matter with heavier overtones.  Working again with producer Andrew Wade, Real Friends set out to make the album they truly wanted to make, and feel like they fully achieved that goal.

Blue Hour’s lead single “Waiting Room” centering around the death of a loved one, as Fasel notes, the heartfelt track is “the most important song Real Friends has ever written.”“Its honesty and vulnerability will strike a chord with anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one,” suggests the candid bassist.  “Most importantly,” he continues, “I hope this song will make anyone who listens feel like they're not alone in their grief.”

The highly anticipated album will also include the striking “Our Love Was Like a Sad Song” which focused on Muraro opening up about “some of the toughest years of my life, spiraling into depression and failing to be there for a loved one.” Muraro adds, “This song reflects on those moments of guilt and growth.”

To date, Real Friends has amassed over 150 million streams across 4 EP’s and 3 full-length albums, and look forward to continuing their momentum with Blue Hour, their first-ever self-released full length album - The band has even created their own community based record label to release the album under, calling the record label Midwest Trash.