A poignant message on the imperative nature of mental health has always been at the forefront of Real Friends’ music. From their early EPs that focused on themes of loss and growing up, to their most recent album The Home Inside My Head, the band have constantly highlighted the realities of living with mental illness.

Now, the band have revealed the second single from their upcoming album Composure set for a release on July 13th called ‘Smiling On The Surface’.

The track, the channels Drive-Thru records era bands like The Early November and The Starting Line, as well as emo legends Jimmy Eat World, featuring a swell of warm chords and catchy lead lines. It deals with the relatable theme of appearances versus reality – an important and universal topic in a social media-obsessed world.

Listen to Real Friends’ ‘Smiling On The Surface’

Last week, the band released the first single of Composure ‘From The Outside’ which dealt with similar ideas. Bassist Kyle Fasel said that as a whole, Composure is Real Friends bets effort to date.

“Composure is everything we’ve always come up short on. We focused more on melodies than ever before. We focused more on the overall emotional climate of each song than ever before. I truly think that every song on the record stands on its own. But when all the songs come together it creates our best effort to date.”

Composure

1. Me First

2. Stand Steady

3. From The Outside

4. Smiling On The Surface

5. Hear What You Want

6. Unconditional Love

7. Composure

8. Get By

9. Ripcord

10. Take A Hint

The article was originally published on Don't Bore Us