We had the chance to feature Chicago dance-poppers Bestfriends along with their gorgeous single “The Way I Feel” a few weeks back, and in the time since we’d been salivating like one of Pavlov’s Dobermans for the full release of Refine; the duo’s latest extended play. Well today, our patience was finally rewarded with the full drop, and immediately the five track synth-pop-meets-electronic-R&B fueled journey jumped onto this writer’s short list of favorite albums of 2014 thus far. While listening to their incredibly inviting and sonically textured sound, it’s easy to forget that only a pair of musicians -Gregory Shanahan & Nick Scalise- oversee Bestfriends’ entire artistic process. From the ground floor of writing and composing, to recording and performing, Bestfriends even manage to see their work all the way through to the final mixing and mastering stages, leaving no stone unturned from their vision in the process. It’s clear from the onset of Refine as opening track “When the Lights” bounces into your ears so gracefully behind a rhythmic lead guitar and four-four kick that this artistic attention to detail translates into a wonderfully shapeshifting and fully listenable collection. These two synth savantes’ meticulous crafting of Refine has resulted in an EP which feels deeply rooted in their emotive brand of dancey, layered pop music while simultaneously playing out as all kinds of accessible to cutthroat music fans and casual listeners alike. Bestfriends’ Refine EP is available for purchase now through iTunes , so if listening a few times here isn’t enough, do like we did and hop on over to add this one to your library permanently. For now though, just stream Refine in its entirety below.
