“Steam up those windows, honey. You’re here for love.”

As the name suggests, Your French Girlfriend have always been a group with romance, in all its mutated forms, intertwined with their being. It felt only right, then, for them to come out with a dedicated Valentine’s Day single sooner or later. Though their live setup sprawls to a 6-piece, the band are formed around songwriting duo Ethan Faith and Philippa Knox. Their new single ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ came out this week ahead of the band’s single launch/Valentine’s Ball tonight (13^th Feb) at Bermondsey Social Club. We checked in with the band to talk about the romantic influences on the single, from classic 50s pop to date nights in Peckham.

What is your favourite love song and why?

Ethan: So in Love’ by Curtis Mayfield will always give me goosebumps if I’m already feeling butterflies – it sounds just how it feels in the early days of being in love. I once enjoyed a particularly poignant moment with this song while riding an escalator in a big Tesco back in Belfast. Love takes you higher.

Philippa: I grew up on black-and-white movies, where every romantic moment had an orchestral swell so dramatic it could make hanging a dress coat on a hook feel sentimental. Listening to ‘Unforgettable’ by Nat King Cole always has me feeling a love like those movies.

Who were the key influences on ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’?

YFG: It was clear when we started writing ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ that love songs of the 50s and 60s lit the pathway we should follow with the tune, and the band locked into this very quickly when we brought it to the rehearsal room for arrangement. We reference The Shirelles’ ‘Baby It’s You’ in the lyric as a nod to the period, but also to just how timeless that lovin’ feeling is. More contemporary influences like Alice Phoebe Lou definitely played a role too, but we really felt songs by the likes of Sam Cooke and The Righteous Brothers set a bar for ‘standards’ in the romantic genre and were keen to play into some of the lovely motifs found in those tracks. If it ain’t broke, eh? 

How has the expanded band setup affected the way you work as a band? Has it changed the way the songs are initially written?

YFG: While we still write the YFG tunes as a duo, the band definitely lets us get more creative with the arrangement. This happens after we’ve already tied a neat little bow on a song with only two vocals and an acoustic, and the guys are very much involved in this part of the process. There’s a Johnny Marr quote where he says a good song should be able to hold itself up stripped back on just an acoustic guitar. Essentially, we’re coming at that backwards by writing something we feel is really solid and then embellishing it further with great musicians. Over the past year as we’ve played together as a six, we’ve definitely tapped into a more cohesive pocket stylistically, so while our first singles have been quite varied, we’ve really struck the vein from which we’re drawing our new material.

What is the most YFG date night in London? (Apart from one of your own shows!)

YFG: Start off your evening by watching the sunset from somewhere serene like Telegraph Hill. Someone nearby should be blasting ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ on a JBL.

Share a bottle of rioja and something delicious at Persepolis, Peckham. Steam up those windows, honey – you’re here for love.

Then, cuddle up in the red light of Set Social after a fiercely competitive, yet intensely amorous, game of pool before rounding things off with a mix kebab. Garlic and chilli sauce. Love and Happiness.

What do you have in store for the launch gig? Any especially romantic moments planned?

We are going HARD with the Valentine’s Ball theme – think school formal on steroids. Decorations aplenty, custom cocktails, and a space for secret admirers. We’ve been looking into the logistics of equipping Bermondsey Social Club with a kiss cam, but it seems we may need to opt for the ol’ point-and-kiss method. Ideally, we’ll be responsible for multiple pregnancies.

And how did you celebrate release day itself?

We’ve actually just been rehearsing hard to make sure all our love songs are shipshape for the big show – though there may have been a little bit of the bubbly and a few tinnies of Poland’s finest going around the room… 

We love this song a lot, and it’s really exciting that it is finally be out in the world for people to swoon to.

What else can we expect from YFG this year?

Can we say big things coming? We’ve got some cool shows lined up, including a support slot for the fabulous Sheepish at PDV in March. We’ll also hopefully be taking the good ship YFG for its first venture outside the capital in the coming months and have a little getaway in the countryside lined up where we may or may not be cooking up something good. Something extended. Something you can play. Watch this space x

Tickets for Your French Girlfriend’s Valentine’s Ball at Bermondsey Social Club available here.