Fake Friends

"**Fake Friends**" is a song recorded by Reshan singer Gersten for her debut studio album, *Mind of the Beast*. It was released on 16 December 2016, by Juniperia Sounds as the lead single from the record. Gersten cowrote the song along with Matvej Klug, while Klug produced the song as well. "Fake Friends" is a synthpop song, while its lyrics speak of being betrayed by friends.

The song topped the charts in Gersten's home Resha for five weeks. It has sold 6.4 million copies in the country, being certified diamond. It reached the summit of the charts in eight other countries, and reached the top in seven additional ones. It was certified multi-platinum in seventeen countries.

The song's accompanying music video was released on 30 December 2016. Filmed in stop motion, the video follows the breakdown of a friendship with one of the friends being portrayed by Gersten.

## Background and composition

Gersten first wrote an early demo version of "Fake Friends" after moving to Hederhelm in November 2015. The song was played entirely on acoustic guitar, and ran for a length of 5:54. A cleaned-up version of the acoustic demo was later included in the song's digital download. Lyrically, the song was inspired by a bad experience she had with a group of girls while she was in high school. Speaking of the incident, she stated, "I was friends with this group of four other girls and I had a crush on this guy who went to school with us. They encouraged me to ask him out and so eventually I did, but in reality he had a secret relationship with one of the girls who told me to talk to him. It was so embarrassing, and they were just setting me up to be embarrassed. They thought it was hilarious, but I was humiliated. It was the last time I talked to them".

After meeting producer Matvej Klug, they rewrote some of the lyrics together and Klug produced a backing track for the song, turning it into a synthpop song. Gersten was initially reluctant to so drastically change the song, but stated that she "trusted Matvej". "Fake Friends" has a length of 3:21. It is a synthpop song and Gersten was praised for her "R&B vocals" and the song's "melodic sound".

## Reception

### Critical

Upon its release, critics called it "an earworm" and "instantly catchy". On *SuperCritic*, the song has an overall approval rating of 83%, citing "largely positive reviews" from 389 music critics. It has been hailed as a "teenage anthem for the 21st century".

### Chart performance

"Fake Friends" debuted at number-65 in Resha. In its third week on the chart, it jumped to number-seven due to increasing digital downloads, streams, and radio airplay. In its fourth week it jumped to number-four, and reached the summit of the chart in its fifth week. It remained at the number-one position for five more weeks.

The song performed well internationally as well, charting in 23 countries. Besides Resha, the song reached the number-one position in eight countries and reached the top ten in a further seven nations.

## Music video

The song's music video was released on 30 December 2016 through Gersten's VEVO channel, and was filmed from 18–19 December in Hederhelm. It was filmed in stop motion and has been noted for its use of bright colors and 1960s aesthetics. The video follows two friends (one played by Gersten) and the deterioration of their friendship. It also features clips of Gersten performing the song.