Ethan French Shares New Single From IDEAS OF THE DAY VOL. 1

Ethan French has released a new track titled 'sticks and stones to telephones - day 52,' which is set to appear on his new project ideas of the day vol. 1, out Oct 2nd. The project, featuring 25 tracks ranging from minute-long sketches to fully fleshed out songs, was born from his 'Idea A Day' series, which began on Instagram at the start of the year.

The idea was to share a piece of music daily, no matter what. The results have drawn more than 850K followers on Instagram alone, along with attention from artists including John Mayer, Justin Timberlake, Jon Batiste, Anderson .Paak, Tom Misch, SZA, and more, according to the release.

French's new track leans into his production style that melds R&B beats with experimental textures, featuring bouncy keys and an unrelenting bass line. The track saw early traction online with praise from Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo, who called the track 'Crazy.'

Earlier this month, French gave fans another taste of the project with an extended version of 'reckless and arranged - day 56,' a track that had sparked a wave of online buzz and excitement from fans across the globe. It caught early attention and sparked remixes from artists like Kerri Chandler and T-Pain, who also opened his Red Rocks set with the remix this past June. French has also shared singles 'it takes a lifetime - day 58,' 'fake it till you make it - day 42,' and 'sight of me - day 10.'

About the Project

ideas of the day vol. 1 began as exactly that: an idea a day, shared with no bigger plan attached. Eight songs deep, all written, tracked, and mixed during that daily practice, the collection moves between perspectives — some songs turn inward, others written about the people around him — with identity and the creative process as the thread that ties them together.

Growing up on the far west coast of Australia, Ethan French spent his childhood tinkering on guitars and mucking around with melodies, chasing sounds long before he had names for them. His relationship with music emerged quietly at home. His mother bought him a small keyboard at age four, and his father would noodle around on the guitar, playing Pink Floyd tunes. The tinkering turned into a passion, and at just 15, he won the prestigious Australian Children's Music Foundation songwriting competition.

His mastery was hard-won, built entirely from scratch through feel and curiosity. Self-taught and obsessive, he still plays largely by ear. Growing up, his music teachers pleaded with him to attend formal theory classes, but he stubbornly insisted on learning by ear instead and he almost didn't make it through high school music studies because of it. When he eventually studied composition at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), he chose composition over formal piano performance, refusing what he calls 'skill acquisition devoid of creation.' He felt the sounds first, and only later learned the formal language to name what he'd already played.

That instinct shaped how his 'idea of the day' series came together. 'I get asked about how I came up with the idea and the truth is, I kind of stumbled into it,' French explains. He'd initially planned something lower-effort — a 'chords of the day' video for musicians, a simple way to post consistently on social media. But after the first one, he realised it wasn't fuelling his creativity the way he wanted, and pivoted to 'idea of the day' instead. 'I've always enjoyed making shorter, kind of 'unfinished' ideas and just putting them out there. I did a series of 'song sketches' a few years ago that's a similar concept, without the daily thing. Sometimes people ask how I thought of it — but it's not exactly a revolutionary concept!! I'm a musician, a creator, and I decided to create something and share it every day. It seems obvious in hindsight!'

That same instinct carried through to how the project itself came together. 'I think I've enjoyed the creative process on this project more than I ever have,' he says. 'I've learned that when I place less pressure on each individual idea, it actually improves the quality of my writing. There's a real risk of making things worse when you obsess over them for too long. I love tiny parts of songs and often dislike others — I'll replay tiny snippets over and over. Run-time isn't something that concerns me much. Even though a lot of these are 'ideas' and relatively short, I still think of them as standalone pieces of music.

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