Foreign Air

Foreign Air surfaced as an enigmatic electro-indie/alt-pop duo recalling the work of Alt-J and Glass Animals. The outfit originated through a long-distance exchange between one-time participants in outfits such as the Bear Romantic and U.S. Royalty. After issuing several singles and the 2016 EP For the Light, the pair delivered their first full-length album, Good Morning Stranger, in 2020. The Tony Hoffer-produced single “Your Touch” arrived the year after.

Jesse Clasen and Jacob Michael constitute Foreign Air. The two first crossed paths in the late 2000s when their then-current bands shared a bill. Mutual admiration for each other’s abilities prompted ongoing contact across subsequent years. Clasen from North Carolina and Michael from Washington, D.C., activated the partnership in early 2015 once both found themselves between projects and began swapping material online. Their debut single, “Free Animal,” surfaced that November and was followed by the EP For the Light in September 2016. Widespread licensing of “Free Animal” in commercials and television programming generated tens of millions of streams. Additional stand-alone releases appeared in the ensuing period, among them 2017’s “Lying” and 2019’s “Wake Me Up,” while the duo supported Bleachers, Bishop Briggs, and MisterWives on tour. The self-released debut album Good Morning Stranger reached listeners in October 2020.

For the follow-up single “Your Touch,” issued in 2021, the pair enlisted Chris Chu of the Morning Benders and POP ETC as co-writer; production duties fell to studio veteran Tony Hoffer, known for work with Beck and Phoenix.