Nashville’s Frances Cone Gets Serious About “Failure” (premiere)

Classically trained pianist/vocalist Christina Cone began her journey as Frances Cone in 2013 with the album Come Back. ­Not long after that record made its way into the world, she met her musical and life partner Andrew Doherty in Brooklyn and the pair eventually made their way to Nashville, where Late Riser, the new Frances Cone release, out 18 January, began to take shape. With Cone doing the majority of the writing and Doherty handling production, the pair strike a balance that is often reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac at the height of its Buckingham/Nicks powers while firmly rooted in the contemporary.

One can hear that in the soulful new song, “Failure”, in which a buoyant rhythm track serves as the foundation for the tale of a soul coming to terms with life’s imperfections. Frances Cone delivers a performance that’s emotionally resonant and impactful while maintaining more than a modicum of the ethereal. This amid guitars that traverse the distance between NYC avant-garde noise and space-y, Bowie-esque passages in a song that’s never easy to categorize but always easy to love. It’s all wonderfully appropriate for a song that speaks to the duality of being a dreamer in the material world.

Christina Cone adds, “I wrote ‘Failure’ right after we left Brooklyn and moved to Nashville. We had an empty house for a few months and the acoustics were incredible and sort of allowed me to think I could actually sing that crazy high portion at the end. Turns out I can and it’s my favorite part of our live show every night. It’s also just feels really nice to sing a love song to your failures. A reach beyond tolerance to acceptance and even fondness. It’s a struggle and I’m here for it.”