With 20 million+ streams and a growing influx of critical acclaim over just five tracks, Teddy Failure look set to become a major success in the year ahead. Often laid-back yet irresistibly uplifting, the Swedish duo’s songs often focus on those things in young adulthood which don’t always work out as well as you hoped, from struggling to find your place in the world to teenage apathy.
Now Teddy Failure (Teo Runsiö and Frans Torell) start 2022 by sharing their brand new single ‘1000 Tears’ as they line up their forthcoming debut EP. Listen HERE.
‘1000 Tears’ is bright and buoyant pop driven by animated acoustic guitar, while the duo’s eclectic vocals switch naturally from its bold melodic hook to scattergun raps. That feel-good flavour provides the counterpoint for a story of falling in love, only to find out that you’ve been fast-tracked to the friendzone. However, what could’ve been a sombre saga ultimately feels surprisingly positive. In keeping with the spirit of much of the Teddy Failure songbook, ‘1000 Tears’ accepts that there’s much to learn from at least taking a chance.
The duo commented, “‘1000 Tears’ is about accidentally falling in love with a friend and how everything always can’t go the way you want it to. And that’s okay.”
That philosophy is part of what inspired the duo to choose the Teddy Failure moniker. They put Teo and Frans into a random name generator which prompted them to pick their artist name. Failure felt particularly apt: not because they were wallowing in self-pity, but because of their belief that it’s important to be brave enough to be willing to learn from your mistakes.
Teddy Failure only formed towards the end of 2020, but they already had a stellar record on the domestic scene having worked with Bülow, Ritt Momney, DJDS, Hannes and many more under their production alias TeoFrans. The pair’s relationship extends back to arts school, where Teo studied classical guitar and Frans focused on bass and jazz. Teo later worked with Yung Lean early in his career, while Frans played in varied live bands.
