The Know started in late 2018 when Daniel Knowles suggested to his wife Jennifer Farmer that they stay put in LA instead of traveling home to the UK and Texas, respectively, for the winter holidays. They began making music in their home studio, influenced by the likes of Beach House, Julee Cruise, Ye Ye, The Jesus and Mary Chain, ’60s girl groups, and the lyricism of Patsy Cline and The National.
The first fruit of those labors was “143,” a dreamy synth-pop tune premiering today. Of the track, the couple explain: “‘143’ is a numerical code for ‘I love you.’ It was popular with couples back in the era of pagers and TV’s Mr. Rogers, who was so fond of the number his wife Joanne says he kept his weight at one hundred and forty-three pounds his whole adult life. Lyrically, it’s set during the time period we first fell in love ourselves.
“Back then, we spent a lot of time exploring LA by night and watching the sunrise,” they recall fondly. “The song draws on events and hazy recollections from then, though obviously, some artistic license was employed…to the best of my recollection, none of those nights literally involved Billy Corgan.”
The couple had recorded together previously, making an album as Ghostel with a friend providing vocals. Knowles used to be a producer and guitarist for Amusement Parks on Fire, and a live sound engineer for bands like Cigarettes After Sex, Sharon Van Etten, and Phoebe Bridgers—so he recorded the project himself, while Farmer acted as co-writer and bassist. One of the songs from that time was featured in the trailer for the Oscar-nominated film Mustang.
More recently, four more songs followed “143,” and the pair plan to release a new EP in early 2020, which will be produced, mixed, and mastered by Knowles; Farmer takes on lead vocals. “Weekends are all I ever wanna do,” she drawls languorously on the lead single. (Join the club.) Listen to the track below.
