If joy is an act of resistance, then the act of creating joy is at the heart of building a community. And the resistance needed at any given moment could be whatever we confront during our day, from private personal situations we’re quietly dealing with to coming to terms with the stressful national and global issues that dominate everything from our news feed to our headspaces.

Joy and the sense of creating it for a communal good resides at the core of The Far Out’s boisterous debut album Greetings from The Far Out. Led by a quartet of charismatic singles, including the supercharged “Funkadelic Gas” and “Laurel,” the latter declared one of the songs of the summer by the Boston Herald and “a four-minute burst of musical sunshine” by Real Gone, the eight-track record from the rising Boston funk-pop collective welcomes the listener into its blossoming community, where positive vibes and blissful motivation – and an initiation to escape the day’s doom and gloom – are soundtracked by the sextet’s infectious sonic cocktail.

“Hard times make for great music,” says saxophonist Colin Senechal. “You gotta put your frustration and pent-up energy somewhere. If it can be upbeat to help people find some hope, even better!”

That comes across as a mission statement for Greetings from The Far Out, where a group of longtime friends come together to create the type of music they’ve always wanted to make. With this debut album, a spectrum of styles and sounds that blends together funk, pop, indie, R&B, soul, Yacht Rock, ‘70s AM gold, Motown, and whatever else filtered through The Far Out’s unique sense of forward-motion retro-cool, the “New Act of the Year” recipient at the 2024 New England Music Awards is ready to take things to the next level. Across eight dynamic tracks, showcasing the band’s penchant for establishing a sense of joy and endurance within each song, there are tracks for the pre-party, the party, and the afterparty.

Ask the band to highlight some of their personal favorite moments on the record, and the response is as varied as their contributions in the writing room and the studio, from Fremont-Smith’s FS Studios to Sean McLaughlin’s 37ft Productions. While crafting the record, the six multi-instrumentalists often experimented with new instruments and approaches that would ultimately impact how the song is performed live. It’s all part of The Far Out’s musical alchemy that helps create a sound that feels impulsive, but is ultimately very well thought-out and by-design.

“I hope we catch listeners by surprise,” concludes songwriter and vocalist Olivia Lowe. “We’ve done some crazy, creative things with these songs, and didn’t hold anything back. There’s so much personality in every track. I hope they’re impressed by the risks we take.”

And within those risks, we find a whole lot of joy.