Photo credit: Julia Khorosilov

We’re so excited by the prospect of a Frances Quinlan (Hop Along) solo record (out via Saddle Creek on 31 January) and new single ‘Your Reply’ has just whet our anticipation even further.

With a video inspired by one of Frances’ paintings, the song opens with a melodic alt-pop sound akin to Frankie Cosmos. Frances sings about someone writing the word ‘tender’ in the margins of a novel ‘as if to remind them of a special force’ before talking about nature and animals including pigeons and stray cats.

Showcasing Frances’ skills as a captivating storyteller, the song captures the feeling of when your love is met with silence (‘Regardless, I think of this song as celebratory. If anything, the speaker is frustrated at coming so close to understanding another person completely, but perhaps only just missing the mark’) and ends with bursts of M. Ward-style guitar and eye-opening lyrics: ‘I think the last time I came up this way I was younger’; ‘I drank the rest of the coffee waiting for you to rise’.