Music / July 6, 2023

FRANK ZING’s ‘Like You Said You Would’ Is Freeform Club Catharsis

FRANK ZING by Karl Magee
Music / July 6, 2023

FRANK ZING’s ‘Like You Said You Would’ Is Freeform Club Catharsis

Words: Dylan Murphy

The duo recruit dancer Junior Yusuf in their head-nodding new visuals.

As an experimental side project of sorts, FRANK ZING routinely come through with releases, features and videos that don’t fit the mould of the member’s other projects. Sure, there’s almost always an irresistible groove to everything they do but what’s most appealing is the liberating sense of uncertainty that comes from their recent run of of performances. Especially given the more established indie sound of Papa Romeo, which they both perform in and their own respective solo careers. Last year, they featured on Khakikid’s ‘Sports & Tattoos’ and their own release sun-kissed ‘Summer Lovers’. However, now, the duo made up of Rob de Boer and Chris Wong, are back with a electronic-tinged cut called ‘Like You Said You Would’.

Speaking on the creative process of the track Rob says, “This accidentally became a mammoth project and super time intensive. We’ve honestly never put so much time into a single track – it nearly destroyed us. We brought Berlin based mix engineer Benedikt MacIsaac on board who really helped us with attention to detail and showed us the importance of sound selection. There was a crazy amount of back and forth with him on the track and it got stupidly technical. It almost became more of a sound design project and I’m super proud of it from a production standpoint.”

When it came to creating the visuals, Rob says they teamed up with their frequent collaborators, Aoife Leonard and Lucy Bowen to bring a new dance idea to life. “We got to work with an amazing team of talented Irish creatives. The video was choreographed by Douglas Reddan and features Nigerian-born Irish dancer Mufutau ‘Junior’ Yusuf and actor Caoimhe Coburn Gray. It is a showcase of Junior’s explosive and unique movement ability. It was filmed in Dublin’s oldest concrete building – The Chocolate Factory, built in 1908 and is a visceral expression of betrayal and hurt”, he explains.

The video comes ahead of a busy period for the duo as they work on their respective solo works and new Papa Romeo music. FRANK ZING have that knack for making summer anthems and thankfully they don’t plan on stopping soon.

“Getting this song & video out will be cathartic for us. We’re not done with FRANK ZING, nor are we in a rush with it. It’s always nice to have this project on the side as a means to express ourselves differently across music, sound and visuals. We’re just waiting for the right opportunity to get back in the studio and finish the next thing!”

Watch the video for ‘Like You Said You Would’ below:

Elsewhere on District: The Future of Irish Music 2023.