FVNERAL and Ben Lee Collab On New Single ‘friendly fire’ To Celebrate Trans Awareness Week
FVNERAL have also announced pre-orders for a limited edition Trans Awareness Week t-shirt, with 50% of profits being donated to Sock Draw Heroes.
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Emerging indie act FVNERAL have teamed with Aussie icon Ben Lee for new single ‘friendly fire’, which celebrates Trans Awareness Week..
The first collaboration between the two artists arrives after what’s been a big couple of months for both acts. ‘frindly fire’ is just the second FVNERAL song to feature new members Madeleine Powers (aka RAGEFLOWER) and Ben Siva (aka jnr.), joining the band’s founder, trans non-binary songwriter/producer Tay Blunt, while Lee has been the recpeient of high praise from critics and fans after wrapping up his 20th anniversary Awake is the New Sleep national tour.
A spritely indie pop joy ride, Tay describes that in order to come out to themself as a trans non-binary person, the final hurdle they had to overcome was one they were holding in front of themself. “In many ways, the person the song is being sung to is me. It’s really asking myself why I find it so difficult to set myself free from my own internalised transphobia and begging myself to let the part of me that holds this hurt begin to heal.”
The song acts as a sense of closure for Tay, continuing, “although I’ve recently changed my name to Tay, there’s a line in Ben Lee’s verse (which he recorded a while back) where he uses my old name. As soon as I told him about my new name, he wanted to re-record it, but after thinking about it, I decided that keeping it provides a real sense of closure. It allows me to farewell the part of myself that will always be attached to that name. It feels liberating to break the cycle that my old name kept me in.”
The release of the single also comes as FVNERAL have announced pre-orders for a limited edition Trans Awareness Week t-shirt, with 50% of profits being donated to the Sock Drawer Heroes pay-it-forward program. This great initiative provides free gender affirming products (such as chest binders, packers and tucking underwear) to those who can’t afford to buy the products needed to feel comfortable in themselves.
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Rapidly earning a reputation for their forward-thinking indie pop, FVNERAL sold out their hometown show in Sydney earlier this year, donating all the profits towards the second edition of TRANSGENRE - Australia’s first and only festival featuring a lineup of trans only artists. The next TRANSGENRE event is on Saturday 13 December in Sydney. Discover more about the event here.
Having already shared the stage with international heavyweights including The Aces, Real Estate, Kevin Devine, Charlotte Sands, KiNG MALA, Grayscale and Teenage Wrist, as well as local heroes Ben Lee, Little Birdy, aleksiah, WAAX, ixaras, John Floreani and Bec Sandridge, FVNERAL are making moves as they prepare for the release of the forthcoming EP, set to arrive in 2026.
‘friendly fire’ by FVNERAL and Ben Lee is out now. Listen here.
