Cody Fry

Cody Fry's music sounds like the moment in your favorite old flick when the film changes from black-and-white to technicolor in a rush of emotion. As his orchestration booms, you practically expect a Golden Age romance to unfold to the narration of his vocals. It's warm enough to make you nostalgic, but Cody always looks forward as a singer, songwriter, composer, producer, orchestrator, and multi-instrumentalist. It's why he's quietly emerged as a phenomenon with hundreds of millions of streams, hundreds of thousands of TikTok creations, and widespread acclaim. It's why he's picked up a GRAMMY® Award nomination and sold out countless shows. It's also why you might just fall in love with him on his 2023 debut album for Decca Records US, The End, which projects this inimitable signature sound in widescreen.

"I would like to be the guy who's known for orchestral pop music," he says. "I love the puzzle of it. A lot of times, I create films in my head to write to. Thinking visually helps me build an environment and get a sense of place and character. Within a song, you have to communicate emotion in a finite amount of time. I appreciate the boundaries imposed by composing, because I think those limitations make me even more creative."

The End represents the culmination of not only his creative evolution, but also his personal journey so far. Its genesis stretches back to a major tour — his biggest at the time — in March 2020 (you probably can tell where this is going)…

He experienced his very first panic attack only exacerbated and followed by "deep debilitating anxiety for several months." On the flip side, his struggles with mental health unassumingly catalyzed a thematic undercurrent for what would become the LP down the line. "When they finally shut down the world, I lost my mind for a little bit," he admits. "I look back and go, 'What a lucky life I've lived not to have dealt with stuff like this before," but it's given me a totally new and improved outlook on what people with mental health experience all the time. A lot of how I've been trying to deal with mental health in my own life comes across on the album."

He initially teased the record with a bright and bombastic cover of Coldplay's "Fix You." Among other highlights, the standout "What If" entwines lush strings with an organic beat. This prelude only gives way to a chantable chorus where he wonders, "Maybe the fear just means I'm alive. Maybe I'll fall, but what if I fly?" backed by a triumphant horn section and heavenly choir.

"It begins in a place of anxiety, but it uses this strategy I've developed from going to therapy," he reveals. "Anxiety is looking at the worst possible outcome of any given situation. If you're going to do that, you have to also acknowledge that there is a best possible outcome."

"Waltz For Sweatpants" layers his theatrical delivery above uplifting strings and horns as he paints a vivid picture of a quirky, yet authentic love story. He sets the scene, "We wore sweatpants to the ball, sneakers echoed through the hall, and the rain didn't help with our hair."

Then, there's "Fine." Sparse instrumentation echoes beneath naked lyrical confessions such as "I feel fine, that's what I used to say about the future." The darkness dissolves under the weight of his fluttering falsetto. "It's definitely the most depressing song I've written," he sighs. "I've realized when somebody says, 'I've felt that way before,' it makes you feel like you're not alone. 'Fine' does exactly that."

The Illinois native has quietly spent his whole life working towards this moment. His father worked as a composer, crafting commercial jingles and more out of his home studio. So, Cody wound up lending his voice to numerous jingles. Dad also had a Synclavier, and his son spent innumerable hours learning how to make music and write songs on it. Cody eventually wound up at Belmont University in Nashville where he achieved a degree in Commercial Music. All manner of gigs followed, from being tapped by Oprah Winfrey to perform for her 55th birthday to touring with peers like Ben Rector and Hunter Hayes. All the while, he created music for a myriad of partners across film and television, technology, video games, and fashion, including his score for a McDonald's Super Bowl commercial. Plus, he was tapped to make his debut as a film composer for the feature Pools followed by more projects.

Cody attracted a devout audience with a series of solo albums, and in 2021, his song "I Hear A Symphony" soared to the forefront of popular culture. Cody personally wrote each part for the orchestra and sang the swooning and soaring melody, embodying every aspect of his vision. Following the K-pop community's embrace of the track on TikTok, it surged to unprecedented virality on the platform. It eclipsed 200 million global streams and counting, hitting #1 on the Billboard Classical Tracks chart and becoming a Certified Gold Single in the U.S. and Canada.

"Oh, no one was more shocked than I was, I promise you," he assures. "Imagine going and pitching 'I Hear A Symphony' to a record label, 'Alright, it's got three verses, no steady tempo, and no beat. Oh, and the choruses are a random chromatic orchestral interlude.' It's not the formula, so I'm amazed and humbled that people end up gravitating towards it."

On its heels, he reimagined The Beatles classic "Eleanor Rigby" with his dynamic orchestration, garnering a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of "Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals" with over 50M streams and becoming the #1 classical track in the U.S.

Like your favorite movie, Cody might just change your life.

"I hope my music can help others tell deeper stories about their own lives," he notes. "Music taps into a deep biological sense we all have. I want to help you score your life."

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BOILER

Cody Fry's music sounds like the moment in your favorite old flick when the film changes from black-and-white to technicolor in a rush of emotion. As his orchestration booms, you practically expect a Golden Age romance to unfold to the narration of his vocals. It's warm enough to make you nostalgic, but Cody always looks forward as a singer, songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. It's why he's quietly emerged as a phenomenon with hundreds of millions of streams, hundreds of thousands of TikTok creations, and widespread acclaim. It's why he's picked up a GRAMMY® Award nomination and sold out countless shows. It's also why you might just fall in love with him on his 2023 debut album for Decca Records US, The End.

After graduating from Belmont University, gigs with the likes of Ben Rector and Hunter Hayes, and countless compositions for film, television, technology, video games, and fashion, Cody attracted a devout audience. During 2021, his song "I Hear A Symphony" soared to the forefront of popular culture, surging to unprecedented virality on TikTok. It eventually eclipsed 200 million global streams and counting, hitting #1 on the Billboard Classical Tracks chart and becoming a Certified Gold Single in the U.S. and Canada. On its heels, he reimagined The Beatles classic "Eleanor Rigby," garnering a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of "Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals" with over 50M streams and becoming the #1 classical track in the U.S.

Now, The End represents the culmination of not only his creative evolution, but also his personal journey so far and exploring themes such as mental health and change as told through the likes of "What If" and "Waltz For Sweatpants."