Orlando-based rock band FELICITY is thrilled to announce their debut full-length album Dear Universe, set to be released on July 16th via Adventure Cat Records. Additionally, the band has today shared their new single and music video “You Got This.” Pre-save Dear Universe, which also features recent singles “Pendulum” and “Hit And Run,” here: https://ps.onerpm.com/dearuniverse. For more information on Felicity, please visit: www.wearefelicity.com.
“For our first ever full-length LP, we couldn’t be any more proud of ourselves both individually and as a band,” the band shares. “We are beyond grateful to have the support of such an incredible team of true professionals around us to help give ‘Dear Universe’ the life it deserves.”
They continue: “We wrote ‘Dear Universe’ from the hearts of the five of us with each song telling the story from some of the greatest moments of our lives to the most tragic of experiences we’ve ever faced. We allowed ourselves to become completely vulnerable by getting out of our comfort zone and writing songs that told the real story of who FELICITY is.”
On new single “You Got This,” they add: “This was kind of a ‘sweet-release’ for us to write because the message behind the song is about not giving up when difficulty looms upon us; to always push through when uncertainty challenges us. We wanted to write something that anyone could relate to and find inspiration from, so we used our own experiences and analogies from over the years that we personally had to overcome as a band and a family.”
From their earliest days, FELICITY have seen success up close.
Just months after forming in 2013, the Orlando-based alt-rock newcomers were invited to perform at their hometown’s stop on the 2014 Vans Warped Tour – their fourth show ever. Shortly thereafter, a slot at The Big Orlando Festival alongside Fall Out Boy and Weezer, as well as songs placed everywhere from Fox Sports to MTV’s The Challenge, cemented that they were onto something big.
FELICITY began, like many acts in the internet age, as a Craigslist connection, with Fagiolino and guitarist Andrew Rapier bonding over their love of post-hardcore firestarters Finch. For years, Fagiolino had been a staple in the Orlando cover band scene, paying tribute to acts from the ’90s and early 2000s, but deep down the singer had a strong pull for something more.
Together with his bandmates (Rapier, guitarist Cory Nicholas, bassist Michael Alosa, and drummer Tyler Dennett), FELICITY are well on their way to carving out their own world. Their deliriously dextrous sound spans genres – often in the same song – as the group shapeshift from hard-charged, detuned metal to ebullient pop-punk. On their debut full-length, Dear Universe, FELICITY take those skills and sharpen them even more, kicking down the guardrails to expand their sound further than many bands in their scene are willing to venture.
Recorded over a 30-day span with genre super-producer Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Neck Deep, Wage War), the Adventure Cat Records-released album follows a trio of EPs – 2019’s Old Habits, 2016’s Brace Yourself!, and 2015’s Felicity – and finds the band fearlessly experimenting with new sounds and structures that divert from their past to chart their future.
“We approached this record as songwriters for the first time,” Nicholas explains. “We want to be a band that can fit in everywhere and make a variety of different songs that can resonate with all kinds of people.”
The result is a group who sound as confident unleashing caustic, swerving breakdowns as they do baring their unabashed pop tendencies and unfolding more ethereal soundscapes.
Blocking out the noise has gotten FELICITY this far, from headlining their hometown House of Blues and appearing at South Florida’s Fort Rock Festival to setting sail on the Warped Rewind At Sea cruise alongside legends like Good Charlotte and The Starting Line. Along the way, fans around the world have flocked to their earn-it-yourself authenticity and captivating sound – relationships the band are excited to build through a variety of channels.
While the ongoing pandemic has prevented these road dogs from crisscrossing the country like normal, they’re using their time in lockdown to find new ways to reach their audience. From a newly created TikTok account with more than 21,000 followers to dabbling in Twitch streaming, FELICITY are connecting with listeners in all the ways 2020 demands.
Adds Rapier: “We’ll be all the more grateful once we’re able to do this again. We’ve learned we never want to take what we do for granted.”
