The Funeral Portrait released Greetings From Suffocate City two years ago today, on September 13, 2024. By the time their second studio album arrived through Better Noise Music, the Atlanta band had spent five years writing, recording and reconsidering what those songs should become.
Some began with little more than a melody and placeholder lyrics. Vocalist Lee Jennings told New Noise Magazine that work stretched back to 2019, with rough ideas eventually developing into tracks such as “Voodoo Doll” and “Dark Thoughts.” Then the pandemic disrupted their plans. The band had studio time booked for the week shutdowns began, leaving “Suffocate City” to be recorded over Zoom. Each member tracked parts on a separate computer and sent files back and forth, keeping the song moving while they were unable to work together in the studio.
Jennings wanted “Suffocate City” to capture the frustration of being stuck in a job, relationship or financial situation with no obvious way out. The imaginary city became somewhere those people could belong. Ice Nine Kills frontman Spencer Charnas joined the track after The Funeral Portrait played his horror convention, and its video took the band to a prom full of outsiders. Jennings told The Music they had recognized the song’s importance early and wanted to realize their video idea despite a limited budget.
For “You’re So Ugly When You Cry,” Jennings found himself working with a singer he had grown up listening to. The Used’s Bert McCracken received the song through his manager and returned demo vocals within roughly 24 hours. Jennings had expected the request to sit unanswered in an inbox; instead, McCracken was asking what he wanted changed. Nothing, Jennings recalled telling him in The Music interview. Within days, the final vocals were recorded and the band was working on the video.
“Suffocate City” became their first No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in November 2024. A new version of “Holy Water” featuring Five Finger Death Punch’s Ivan Moody followed it to the top the next June.
Moody’s contribution appeared on the deluxe edition released June 13, 2025, alongside Lilith Czar’s version of “Hearse for Two.” Both guests had been intended for the original album, Jennings explained in an April 2025 interview with New Noise Magazine, but the timing had not worked out. He and Moody became friends while touring together, and they returned to “Holy Water” afterward.
The expanded release also let the band revisit a recording decision Jennings had never quite let go of. “Alien” had been reworked after their former label A&R representative pushed for more straightforward active rock material. Jennings liked that side of the band, but wanted room for the other things they could do. “We like every song to be different,” he told New Noise. With the deluxe edition, listeners could finally hear the earlier “Alien” demo alongside the arrangement that made the original album.
They were still writing new material for the release, too. “Evergreen” and “Skinny Lies” were written in December 2024 and recorded during two days off in January before the band went back on tour. Jennings described “Evergreen” as a song about finally believing in himself and accepting that he could be OK. It was released with its own music video on the day the deluxe album arrived.
