Written by: Jennifer Moglia
On Friday, April 24th, 2020, New Jersey native but Philadelphia-based alternative band Rich People released their second single of the “Harmony” era. Serving as the follow-up to their November 2020 release “No Age”, “Joy Notes” is an upbeat, more pop-leaning track, similar to “No Age”, and definitely one of the happier sounding tracks in the band’s discography.
Rich People, composed of Robert Rich, Blake Horner, Conner DeMuro and Tyler Falcone, put out their first release in 2015, the full-length “Jacob’s Ladder.” Its hard-hitting lyricism and unique sound caught the attention of many, not only on the east coast but around the country and eventually the world. The album’s first single, “Obscure” seems to analyze (and even poke fun at) the community and atmosphere surrounding the people within local bands and “the scene.”
Their second release, “Grace Session”, came out in 2018, complete with a literary companion titled “Bliss to Come”, essentially serving as extended liner notes, which can be found here. With more of the same sound and profound lyrics accompanied by more touring and show experience, their popularity grew from here, largely because of the single “Back Step”, which currently has just over 385,000 streams on Spotify.
Over the summer of 2019, it was announced that they would be supporting fellow Philly alternative band Grayscale on their first full US headlining tour promoting Grayscale’s new record “Nella Vita.” By playing the first set every night, Rich People caught the attention of tons of new fans, performing hits from “Grace Session” as well as the two new singles, then-unreleased.
The new single “Joy Notes” is a huge step forward for Rich People, furthering their reputation of creative lyricism and a sound that may not be familiar to their often pop punk-leaning audience, including electronic and synth-based elements. While the current global situation is preventing them from playing shows, nothing seems to be slowing this band down, pushing full-steam ahead to the release of “Harmony”, whenever it may be, and winning over more fans with each listen.
The video for “Joy Notes”, serving as the directorial debut for Cassidy Berstler, can be found here, including frontman Rich and his roommates doing some self-proclaimed “obnoxious” dancing. You can follow the band on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, with “Jacob’s Ladder”, “Grace Session”, “No Age” and “Joy Notes” available streaming wherever you listen to music; you can even catch them on Stage Two at the virtual music festival Block By Block West today from 4:10-4:30, with all information for that here.
“‘Joy Notes’ is a song that Rob started writing while traveling on Warped Tour a couple summers ago. He wrote the hook line while reading books on the topic of The Law of Attraction (a favorite of mine as well), and wrote about his ideal image of what romance looks like. It was one of my favorite songs to write together and it even made it into our set for the Nella Vita Tour with Grayscale fall of 2019. I love the precursory line to the chorus: ‘If you are, I am.’ I think that Rob really hit the nail on the head of something so simple that embodies total electric wholeness.”
-Blake Horner, Rich People