San Francisco artist Grooblen today shares the new EP FRIENDO. While only 4 songs in total, FRIENDO finds singer/songwriter Ellie Stokes evoking far-reaching experiences as she reflects on friendship and its emotional implications; from what it means to be there for someone, to the times we rely on others, evolving friendships, minor breakups and the grief of truly losing friends who pass on.

FRIENDO was announced with the release of the deceptively breezy tribute to feeling used, “The Convenience Of Being” and followed with the pensive reflection of a friendship devolved to transactions in “How Are You?”.

While loss looms in the background throughout FRIENDO, the Grooblen lineup subverts it with vibrant arrangements courtesy of bassist Alejandro Lara-Agraz, backing vocalist Eva Alejandra, lead guitarist Spencer Lay, drummer Sean Aaron, Jack Lillian on flute for “Feels Real” and Ellie’s brother William Stokes on drums for 'How Are You?', backing her vocals and guitars. The same trio who recorded 2023’s A Wormhole Is A Freeway To The Stars are all present here, but on FRIENDO they arrive more potent than ever on the back of a busy couple of years playing as a live unit.

The FRIENDO EP also sees Stokes return to a collaborative partnership with bay-area producer Jim Greer (Foster The People, Handsome Boy Modeling School), who helmed the sessions for Wormhole. Greer is also responsible for putting the EP out via his own War Chant Records.

FRIENDO was recorded over a few months in 2024 at Opus Studios in Berkeley, California. Limited edition cassettes available here. The cassette version of the EP also includes an exclusive b-side containing solo demos of all the EP songs. Says Stokes, “These were the little seed tracks I sent to the rest of the crew(blen haha) before we kind of formulated them into the fleshed-out versions you can hear and see live today.”