“Facepaint” by Family of the Year, Saturday, October 26, 2024

In 2012, Family of the Year released their second album, Loma Vista. This album was noticed by several publications, from Entertainment Weekly to Billboard, and the band performed its second single, “Hero,” on several late-night shows. They played many festivals and began building their name among other ‘10s indie and alternative acts like GROUPLOVE and WALK THE MOON. In 2014, the song was featured in a pivotal scene toward the end of Richard Linklater’s film Boyhood. In 2015, the band released their self-titled album which was not as commercially successful as their second album Loma Vista. The band released a fourth album, Hello Sunshine, Goodbye Nighttime, in 2018 before going on hiatus “Due to personal circumstances beyond [their] control.” In 2021, the band released a single and have since released several singles both solo and collaboratively since then. Time will tell if we will have more music from Family of the Year. 

FEATHERS AND FACEPAINT IS ALL THAT SHE WEARS. Family of the Year was founded by brothers Joseph (guitars and lead vocals) and Sebastian Keefe (drums, backing vocals) who played in several bands in Boston, most notably The Billionaires. Family of the Year formed in Los Angeles with James Buckley on guitar and backing vocals and Christina Schroeter on keyboards and backing vocals. The band was modeled on folk music popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s and incorporates textured vocal layers with every member singing at times. While Joseph is almost always on male lead vocals, occasionally Christina takes lead vocals. The band has drawn comparison to Fleetwood Mac and touring-mates Edward Sharpe and the Magnificent Seven for this sound. While Family of the Year may be influenced by folk, their sound is far from the Nashville song, avoiding twang and any notion of country music opting for a Los Angeles studio-corrected sound. On the band’s third album, Family of the Year, they flirt more with rock than their previous efforts. Songs like “Facepaint” and “Dead Poets” demonstrate how folk influences a harder rock sound. 

WATCH AS THE ANIMALS GATHER AT HER FEET. Family of the Year’s “Facepaint” is a song full of images about a free-spirited girl. The repeated imagery of “feathers and facepaint” emphasizes her unique, almost shamanistic style, suggesting that she might represent a symbol of freedom, mystery, or rebellion. The lines “Up on the mountain, down on the street / Watch as the animals gather at her feet” reinforce her elevated status. She’s admired, almost worshiped, as an enigmatic figure that both transcends and connects to the rawness of nature. The speaker sings with a great admiration for this New Age/ perhaps Native American holy woman. The chorus line “She got so high that she’ll never get down” can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. It might refer to a literal high from substances, suggesting her escapist tendencies. Metaphorically, it implies that she’s ascended to a place emotionally or spiritually that separates her from others, perhaps even alienating her. This height she’s reached could be a sort of untouchable, elevated state, reflecting her distance from the ordinary world. Musically, the song takes harmonies from folk and rock electric guitars. The layered vocals give the song a spooky, campfire feel, and that is why it makes my late fall playlist close to Halloween. 

Read the lyrics on Genius.