Ethan French Shares ‘sticks and stones to telephones – day 52’
The track previews the 25-track ‘ideas of the day vol. 1,’ due October 2.
Australian musician Ethan French has released “sticks and stones to telephones – day 52” as the latest preview of his forthcoming project ideas of the day vol. 1. The 25-track collection is due October 2 and grew from his “Idea A Day” series, a daily Instagram practice he began at the start of the year.
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The new track combines R&B-leaning production with layered keys, bass and experimental textures. It had already drawn attention through French’s online posts, including reactions from Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo, who described the track as “Crazy.” French’s daily series has also helped him build an Instagram audience of more than 850,000 followers, while posts from the project have attracted attention from artists including John Mayer, Jon Batiste, Anderson .Paak, Tom Misch and SZA.
Earlier this month, French shared an extended version of “reckless and arranged – day 56,” another track developed through the series. The song prompted remixes from Kerri Chandler and T-Pain, with T-Pain opening his Red Rocks set in June with his version. French has also released “it takes a lifetime – day 58,” “fake it till you make it – day 42” and “sight of me – day 10” ahead of the project.
ideas of the day vol. 1 moves between short sketches and more fully developed songs, reflecting the daily creative routine behind the series. French originally considered posting a simpler “chords of the day” series before shifting the concept toward complete musical ideas. He said the lower-pressure format changed his writing process: “I’ve learned that when I place less pressure on each individual idea, it actually improves the quality of my writing.” He added that he sees even the shorter pieces as standalone works rather than unfinished fragments.
French grew up on the far west coast of Australia and began experimenting with music at home, first on a small keyboard and later on guitar. At 15, he won the Australian Children’s Music Foundation songwriting competition. He went on to study composition at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, choosing composition over formal piano performance while continuing to work largely by ear.
Listen to Ethan French’s “sticks and stones to telephones – day 52” here.
