French Inhaler’s “TV LOVE” is the first single from the Chicago trio’s upcoming album Practiced Lines, and it gives the project a clear introduction right away: tight rhythms, synth pressure, melodic bass, and a kind of emotional numbness that feels pulled straight from late-night screens and half-real relationships.
The band comes out of Logan Square and is made up of singer and keyboardist Ashvin Prakash, bassist Adam O’Leary, and drummer Zane Chao. That lineup matters because “TV LOVE” does not feel like a synth-pop track with live instruments pasted around it, or a post-punk track dressed up with some extra electronics. The drums and bass give the song its physical shape, while the synths create that cooler surface tension around the vocal.
The pitch mentions The Cure and Joy Division, and those references are easy enough to hear, but French Inhaler are not just leaning on old records for credibility. “TV LOVE” takes that early 80s coldness and pushes it toward something more current, especially in how the lyrics deal with mediated desire, paranoia, and emotional disconnection. It feels like a song about wanting something through a screen for so long that the wanting itself becomes the relationship.
Mechanical Rhythm, Human Unease
The best thing about “TV LOVE” is the way the rhythm section keeps the song moving while the mood stays uneasy. The drums have a mechanical feel, but they still hit with enough live energy to keep the track from feeling stiff. O’Leary’s basslines bring the melodic movement, and that is where the song gets a lot of its replay value, because the bass is not just holding down the root. It is moving through the song as its own voice.
That is a very post-punk move, and it gives “TV LOVE” its center. The synths can stay hypnotic and the vocal can stay detached because the bass is doing a lot of the emotional work underneath. It gives the track some warmth without breaking the colder tone that French Inhaler are clearly chasing.
There is also a nice bit of restraint in the production.
Nothing feels overstuffed and the track is energetic and radio-friendly, but it does not sand off the tension just to make itself easier to place. It keeps the paranoia in the room, which is kind of the whole point I would say.
A First Look At Practiced Lines
“TV LOVE” also sets up Practiced Lines in a way that feels pretty direct. The album title already points toward performance, repetition, and the little scripts people use to move through relationships, culture, and public life, and this single seems to take that idea into the digital side of intimacy.
The lyrics are centered around distance and desire, but the track does not wallow in it. It is still danceable, still cleanly arranged, and still immediate enough to work outside a narrow post-punk audience. That balance is important because bands in this space can sometimes get buried under their own references. French Inhaler avoid that by keeping the song sharp and physically moving.
The band is also releasing a cassette on LittleHEADbutt this summer and heading out for Midwest tour dates with Bimbo, which gives this single a little more context. “TV LOVE” feels like the kind of track that should hit better in a room, with the bass up front, the drums pushing harder, and the synths filling the corners without swallowing the song whole.
French Inhaler Keep The Revivalism Focused
French Inhaler clearly know the tradition they are pulling from. The Cure, Joy Division, and Kraftwerk are all part of the DNA here, but “TV LOVE” does not feel like costume work. It is more disciplined than that. The band understands the value of space, the tension of repetition, and the way a clean melodic bassline can say more than another wall of guitars.
That is what gives the single its pull. It is stylish, but not empty. It is danceable, but not disposable. It has enough melancholy to satisfy the new wave and post-punk crowd, while still carrying enough immediacy for indie pop and electronic listeners who want something with a little more edge.
“TV LOVE” is out now, and Practiced Lines is due later this summer.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
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