Frayle: See What The Bones Say
Drenched in glorious October Los Angeles sunshine, it’s hard to imagine that the two sunglasses sporting musicians are responsible for one of 2025’s best doom albums. However, Gwyn Strang & Sean Bilovecky are the creative force behind FRAYLE and their latest offering Heretics & Lullabies is exactly that. With a backdrop of a trailer full of stage gear and instruments, that’s the main indication that FRAYLE is currently on a North American tour supporting DOGMA. For the past several years, FRAYLE have been gaining traction and popularity, becoming one of the ones to watch within the doom scene. However, with the release of their latest album, they’ve morphed into ones not to be missed. The excitement for the reception of Heretics & Lullabies is palpable even over video call.
An enthused Sean describes how it’s been since the release. “We’ve been charting on radio, the label has done us stats on where we were charting after the first week. It’s all new to us, but they’re stoked and we’re stoked.” It’s also another step up on the ladder for them, it highlights how far they’ve come creatively and unlocks the potential for others to see what they are capable of. As Gwyn details, “this is record four, including the EP (2018s The White Witch), and it’s kind of a mix of everything.” Sean adds to this explaining, “art is never done. It’s always a snapshot of where you are at that time. So, it is a culmination of everything we’ve done so far. However, it is also a bit of a departure. We purposely ignored everything else, musically, in the world and focussed on writing things to make each other excited.” It’s very much music that they enjoy creating for themselves and then bringing others on board for the journey. Going on to talk about the tracks on Heretics & Lullabies, Sean adds, “this sounds very much like us coming into our own. From both the writing standpoint and with the sounds. Then with Aaron [Chaparian, producer at Iron Audio] really bringing everything out.’
One of the standout gems of the new record is the sumptuous cover of LANA DEL RAY’s hit Summertime Sadness. While not an artist that one would possibly first consider to be covered by a doom band. Nevertheless, FRAYLE approached it and totally made it their own. Gwyn explains how this came about. “I think that LANA DEL RAY is the queen of melancholy. Her voice alone invokes so much sadness and depth. So, to me, even though she’s more pop, it seemed like a natural fit.”
Being no strangers to covering renowned songs previously. Gwyn continues. “We took it apart like any other cover. We find that some gel better than others, like Ring of Fire, it’s one of our favourites that we completely deconstructed. This one, (Summertime Sadness) took a bit more rewriting, but once we got it and Aaron put his stamp on it, it became the obvious choice.”
Discussing the musical reworking, Sean adds “we struggled a bit with the music in the verse, keeping a little too much to the original in places. So, we took a break and I muted everything except drums and vocals and just played whatever I felt like playing with the guitar over the top. That’s what we went with.” It certainly worked out as it comes across as a wonderful reimagining. Sounding sufficiently different while retaining some core semblance of the original. Sean concludes, “we kept the tempo largely the same and the vocals are in the same key. Just in case LANA DEL RAY wants to ever join in…”
What becomes clear is how dedicated the pair are to music as an experience. Particularly when it comes to aligning with what can be considered heavy. As Sean details it, “what’s heavy to me doesn’t necessarily have a set of check boxes. Like, screaming vocals, thick guitars and things like that. There are songs that are super chill that are really heavy to me because of the lyrical content. The delivery of the meaning or the way you can tell if the person is really feeling it. It’s really subjective, to me anyway.”
While this is not by any means a new philosophy, it can certainly be applied to the music of FRAYLE. While they do in many ways confirm to the identity checklist of heavy music and specifically doom. They focus entirely on the quality of the lyrical content and the emotive delivery and that helps to set them apart as one of the more nuanced and heavier bands in the doom scene today.
When it comes to writing, FRAYLE like to keep things as free flowing as possible. While Gwyn confirms that Sean has a wealth of riffs stored away any of which could form the foundation of new idea. They’re both keen to point out that they don’t set to have an intentional plan with songwriting per say. “It would end up sounding too contrived.” This is how Sean feels when he speaks about avoiding a liner path to creating a song path. While they have intentions and aspirations for how they want a finished piece to come across, they put a lot more store by feel. As Gwyn puts it, with a smile. “We strip away any expectation and then we just do what we want.” Putting a suitable doom spin on the same idea Sean adds, “you spread the bones, you see what the bones say.”
Despite their growing success and popularity and with recently joining the roster of Napalm Records. FRAYLE is committed to remaining true to themselves and their chosen style. As Sean confirms, “we didn’t do anything different because of Napalm, or the producer or this and that. We have a natural evolution. We’re on the biggest label we’ve ever been on and our management are able to push more, but we’re just writing stuff to keep us stoked.”
Heretics & Lullabies is out now via Napalm Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS125 here:
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