SYML

SYML represents the more introspective solo project of Brian Fennell, the Seattle-born musician previously known as the frontman of Barcelona. His initial breakthrough arrived via the 2017 track "Where's My Love," which logged 20 weeks on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart. Broader recognition followed with the self-titled full-length debut SYML in 2019, after which he issued the EPs You Knew It Was Me in 2020 and DIM in 2021, along with the streaming success "You and I" in 2022. Early the next year his second album, The Day My Father Died, produced by Phil Ek, came out. Several further EPs appeared afterward, among them Infinity in 2024.

Operating as SYML, Fennell adopts a more atmospheric and tactile approach than the piano-driven rock of his Barcelona days, setting his restrained, reflective compositions against understated synth-enhanced backdrops that feature stark piano lines and ethereal vocals. He first emerged in 2016 with the Hurt for Me EP, gaining traction through placements in series such as Elementary, Scream, and Teen Wolf. Later releases like the single "The War" and the somber rendition "Mr. Sandman" of the 1950s doo-wop standard delved into weighty, foreboding subjects, whereas the 2017 follow-up "Where's My Love" offered a lighter, folk-tinged contrast. That track became a standout for SYML, maintaining a presence on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart beyond 20 weeks. Over the ensuing months it surfaced in multiple iterations, among them an acoustic take, a solo piano arrangement, a Sam Feldt electronic remix, and a duet version with Lily Kershaw; the original appeared on the 2018 EP In My Body.

His self-titled debut album SYML arrived in 2019. Additional singles accompanied the 2020 EP You Knew It Was Me, while 2021 brought the tracks "True" and "Stay Close." The sixth EP, DIM, followed in April of that year. A series of 2022 singles included the Charlotte Lawrence collaboration "You and I," which Phil Ek, another Seattle native whose credits encompass Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty, helped produce and which anchored the reflective second album The Day My Father Died. Issued in early 2023 after the passing of his adoptive father, the record marked his first with a complete band and addressed themes of personal development, recovery, and chosen family. Fennell also appeared alongside Lana Del Rey on "Paris, Texas," which incorporated a sample from his earlier piece "I Wanted to Leave." The cinematic How I Got Home EP arrived later that year, and across 2024 he put out singles such as "The Walker" and "How It Was It Will Never Be Again," plus the EP Infinity.