During the writing and recording process, DeMarco was one of the artists who provided Farewell with valuable advice and constructive criticism. Songs like “Kakashi (All The Time)”, “Are We OK?” and “Forever” highlight an album that resonates fearless originality and a willingness to explore various dimensions.

Farewell and I recently had a talk about the vision behind her debut, being nervous about introducing the album to friends, the influences a few acts have on the music and wanting to make the listener feel good.

Northern Transmissions: Sweet Company has this interesting blend of dream pop and old school R&B with a textured synth being all over the music. What would you say is the main vision behind this album?

Vicky Farewell: The main vision was all of the above that you said (laughs). It’s really just a blend of everything I like. I’ve had the hardest time trying to pick one genre and I realized that it was impossible to do because I feel that music is so limitless now. I can’t help but be influenced by all these different genres all at once and I think that was my main goal, it was to write music that’s kind of for everybody. It’s varied, it’s multi-faceted and it’s the biggest expression for me to be able to blend all of these different genres into one sound.

NT: I totally get that, especially with the expansiveness of it from start to finish. A lot of songs have a lot going on, it’s not cookie cutter pop. It’s music that touches upon a bunch of different dimensions.

VF: Thanks

NT: No problem. With this being your debut release, did you have a mix of excitement and nervousness during the recording process?

VF: I recorded everything by myself so it wasn’t scary at all. The cool part about doing it yourself is that you get to pick and choose what goes on and stays on. The scary part was sharing it with friends and then eventually with the world. That was probably the scariest part because it sounds good to me but I don’t know how everyone else is going to receive it. Thankfully, almost everyone I know has said that they love it and they think it’s great.

NT: When you’ve been working on something for over a year, I can totally see how you could get sort of anxious to have someone other than you hear it for the first time?

VF: Yeah, definitely.

NT: You’ve collaborated with the likes of Mild High Club, Anderson .Paak and Mac DeMarco in the past, so how much of an influence did these acts have on the songwriting within Sweet Company? Did any of them come to mind while you were writing songs?

VF: Oh, completely. I don’t think I would have been able to make this record without each of them. They’ve each inspired me but also molded me to become a better writer and producer in their own way because they each have their strengths, for sure. With any technical difficulties that I had and anything like that Mac and Alexander Brettin were ready to offer advice or even let me borrow a microphone because I didn’t have a good mic at the time. They were always ready and willing to lend a hand, offer advice and tell me if a song wasn’t good, they were always up front with me. They also want me to win so they were my strongest supporters throughout this entire project.

NT: That’s awesome how you had such honest and fulfilling criticism backing you for your own benefit rather than trying to cut you down. It must have lifted you up a bit, that’s really cool. What can people expect from the album when they give it a listen? What do you hope they take from it?

VF: I hope it makes them feel good and I hope it makes them feel happy. I just want them to feel good, that’s all I really care about.

order Sweet Company by Vicky Farewell HERE