Warm, dusty, and easy to fall in love with, Best Boys’ dreamy debut single “Forgive Forget” is a tender, vibey indie pop reverie – a dusk-lit meditation on memory, misalignment, and the weight of what lingers.
Stream: “Forgive Forget” – Best Boys
… and I don’t forget… and you don’t forgive…
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There’s a certain kind of magic in the things we wear down over time – the jeans that always fit just right, the jacket that somehow holds your history.
Best Boys’ debut single carries that same weightless intimacy: Not loud or overwrought, but quietly smoldering, intimate, and endlessly intoxicating. “Forgive Forget” is the sound of such reflection in motion – a dreamy, dusk-lit indie pop reverie driven by memory and melancholy, regret and release. Its lilting groove and gently warbling guitar feel worn and familiar, like a well-loved article of clothing that still smells like someone you used to know – maybe an ex, or maybe a past version of yourself. It’s vibey, hypnotic, and cinematic – the kind of song that invites you to feel everything and nothing all at once.
cruising all along
when I had control
past the crossroads
where you sold your soul
it’s just a little something
that I wouldn’t do
I’m just a little lost
but it all feels new
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Forgive Forget,” the enchanting debut single from Best Boys. The new project from Black Fly’s Joe Rittling and producer Aaron Levison, Best Boys is the sound of a lifelong friendship translated into song – cinematic, textural, and deeply lived-in. Out July 8, “Forgive Forget” arrives alongside a charismatic, charming music video that underscores the track’s moody glow and its themes of distance, memory, and resignation.
“We made ‘Forgive Forget’ one afternoon messing around in my living room,” Rittling tells Atwood Magazine. “What started as a small, hypnotic guitar groove quickly grew into a song. Though it’s rarely the case, this tune came easily. It had a breezy, but slightly melancholic nature to it which helped inform the lyrics. It sounded a bit like a road trip to nowhere in particular. That’s more or less the headspace of the song – driving along and reflecting on a path that didn’t quite work out.”
It sounded a bit like a road trip to nowhere in particular.
* * *
That melancholic ease flows through every inch of “Forgive Forget.” The lyrics read like a conversation with the rearview mirror – haunted by what was said and unsaid, what might have been salvaged, what never could be:
I wish I could remember when we lost our step
or recognized the signs of what happened next
a pair of double lines came between us two
the opposite direction we got pushed into
Rittling’s voice aches with subtlety – never begging for attention, but heavy with feeling. Around him, Levison’s production builds a soft shimmer: sun-drunk guitars, dusty drums, and synths that bloom like heatwaves on the horizon. The track plays like a long exhale – relaxed but restless, always moving forward even as it glances back.
The video, also directed by Rittling, leans into that liminal mood with dusty flair, featuring shots of a cowboy hat-clad Rittling in various desert locations – each one more expansive and gorgeous than the last, all of them seemingly frozen in time – a snapshot of another life. It’s the perfect accompaniment not just to the Best Boys’ hot and summery sound, but to their reflective, brooding lyrics as well.
and I don’t forget
and you don’t forgive
“Forgive Forget” doesn’t try to solve anything – it simply sits with the ache, lets it breathe, and makes something beautiful out of the stillness.
It’s a stunning introduction to Best Boys, who already sound like a band with a history – and in many ways, they are.
This is the start of something special: A project born not just of collaboration, but of connection, chemistry, and shared memory.
Best Boys’ debut single “Forgive Forget” is out July 8th. Let this one hold you in its gentle haze, and don’t miss its filmic music video, premiering exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
the beating desert sun can at time feel cold
the sight of the horizon just keeps getting old
and I can’t even tell if the sky’s still blue
and every passing cloud makes me think of you
and I don’t forget
and you don’t forgive
and I don’t forget
and you don’t forgive
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Stream: “Forgive Forget” – Best Boys
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© Anna McClain artwork © Paul McGreevy
© Anna McClain
artwork © Paul McGreevy:: Stream Best Boys ::
