It’s ever so rare that I fall in love with three songs from one talent at the same time. On this occasion, that artist goes by the name of Treis (or Treis & Friends), who is a conceptual singer and songwriter from Central Florida.
Treis’ style varies with each record he puts out, and the set of songs below are taken from his upcoming third LP, which revolves around the concept of ‘Suburban Funk’ that is inspired by nu-disco and synth-wave sounds.
The tracks themselves are flawlessly produced pieces of music with exceptionally composed melodies. With that in mind, I have included descriptions by the artist for each song to give you some context on what you’re hearing. Enjoy!
Familiar Strangers is a slightly sinister love song, in the same vain as songs like ‘Me & Mrs. Jones’ in the sense the narrator has his ‘commitments’ he can’t seem to remove himself from, and his muse is aware that ‘that’s just how this ends’. Despite the fact they both seem to care, and perhaps have even been romantically involved , they will never work out for the same reason they love each other so much, and so the muse responds they will find the narrator in the ‘skin of someone new’.
The Morning After depicts of cost of swallowing your pride to protect someone else’s feelings, and how it affects the narrator. Does their well-being trump one’s need to be open about their own feelings, and even if those feelings were expressed, would it even matter the next day?
No Compromise (featuring Amaria) is an admission of existential fear by the narrator to a drunk friend at a party, knowing that the friend will not remember the importance of what he is saying. The narrator questions whether or not he finds solace in this, being finally freed from ‘keeping it in,’ but doing nothing particularly constructive with this newfound freedom.