Jekyll and Hyde

This article contains spoilers in discussion of Fovvs' unreleased song.
 * Warning

"Jekyll and Hyde" (sometimes shortened to J&H) is the debut single by Fovvs, planned to be released in 2022. It was written by Andrew Fowler.

Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic novella, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, was inspiration for the song's creation. While Stevenson's text explores the duality of human nature, Fowler's song is centred around mental health. The vernacular phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" refers to the display of two different sides in personality.

Background and release
In June 2021, Fowler was scheduled to have three studio sessions, which turned into five. "Jekyll and Hyde" was composed, along with the other two songs, "Amsterdam" and "Rain". Some of the lyrics were pre-written in a voice note, and vocals were recorded on the last two days. He confirmed the song's title in a livestream near the end of the month. The particular lines, "So I'll take the slack [...] don't say a thing" were revealed over livestreams prior, in March, as a draft labelled under the name "Crows". A small clip of the second draft was teased, with the previously heard lyrics played over its edited production.

The track has faced difficulty for its release, delayed by the production side for a little over a month. Unable to get in contact with the producer, Fowler admitted the song may not be released. Once production commenced in late September, they both made the necessary changes to the track, and it was ready to be published. He said if optimistic, the song would be released in a month. If pessimistic, it would be at the end of the year. In October, Fowler explained of sorting out the logistics, which caused the song to be put on hold until 2022. He wanted to release it on Halloween (31 October), since it matched the holiday's atmosphere. On 20 December 2021, he shared a preview of the cover artwork, and the hint of an upcoming promotional tour.

Composition
The song has a blend of genres, incorporating influences of alternative, heavy rock, and R&B. Instruments include the piano, bass, some synths, two electric and one acoustic guitar, where Fowler did the lyrics, the vocals, and played the instruments live. He also did tap work on the guitar and had the notes span from a low D to a high A. Fowler stated it was mainly production-driven, rather than an attempt to vocally impress, and did not contain any element of pop. His named influences, Jon Bellion's "Guillotine" and Panic! at the Disco's "King of the Clouds" seemed to have inspired the song, which are also supported by production and classified as a merge of genres. He described it musically as a "deliberately weird" song, where he believed it was different from what people would expect of him, but the concept was one he had in mind for awhile.

Title and artwork
He did background research on Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which the song has taken inspiration from. The plot focusses on Henry Jekyll, who is an intelligent and respectable doctor. Intrigued by the dichotomy of good and evil, Jekyll develops serum to create an alter ego, Edward Hyde, the manifestation of his evilness. In efforts to become free from guilt and conscience, Jekyll loses control as Hyde grows in power, and in the end, commits suicide. The book can be allegorical for the restrictive nature of Victorian society, where it was crucial to uphold a spotless reputation, these societal constraints for outward appearances overriding the truth and reality, and in turn, often led to hypocrisy. It can also symbolise the degrading effects of drug addiction that results in the self-destruction of Jekyll.

In the official cover artwork, it was created by Amy Clifford, and depicts Fowler animated, between a split of happy and sad. He initially suggested it to be simplistic, with the colours black, white, and red, in relation to the "split" theme in the book. An alternative idea was the symbolism of mental health, where both are masked individuals, one representing depression, and the other masquerading as bright and optimistic. Fowler made reference to his 2019 post on Instagram, which he said was an idea for the cover art. The caption also read:

"there's always two sides to people. the side you see when everything is good, and they're happy. and the side you see when things aren't all that positive".