We’re almost at a holiday break and the end of a year I sometimes felt would never end, but here’s one last cheeky little record looking to worm into your head space so it can hold you hostage.
New Friends is a record about the kind of irresponsibility insistent romantic love that feels impossible not to prioritise over everything else. Here LA-based musician Cuja sings with reckless abandon about giving up on her friends so she can be with the person she really wants, as she makes clear on a catchy but ever so naughty chorus: “We can make new friends baby!”
In all honesty, my favourite thing about this record, even more so than how brazenly head-over-heels it is, is the the dog bark. It’s the sort of touch that made me double check whether I heard it correctly... “1:06... Was that a dog bark?” And yep, there it is... there is a dog lurking here. So my conclusion is this song is a love record about Cuja and her pup, and she has decided that frankly her other friends were just getting in the way of that love.
Cuja herself neither confirms nor denies the dog overtones here, so maybe I’m projecting. All we know for sure is this is a song about two friends falling for each other, and taking a gamble on where that leads. In Cuja’s own words:
“New Friends is about taking chances. It’s an anthem to put your fears aside and go for that thing you want. Perfect for that New Years Eve, ‘Ah, f**k it’ moment.”
We can indeed take chances and make new friends. Happy New Year folks!!