Artist: Steven Adams and The French Drops
Title: My Brother, The Racist
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika082SG2
Release date: 26th June 2020
Bandcamp | Spotify
My Brother, The Racist is the second single taken from the forthcoming album “Keep It Light”, out in August 2020.
“True story. It’s an awkward thing to sing about, but it felt like the right thing to do. Write about what you know.
I worried that it was a bit depressing, but as soon as we started playing together it felt positive and optimistic. We finished recording just before lockdown and although that seems like a very long time ago, I’m so glad we got this song down. “
Steven Adams is a "national musical treasure" (The Guardian) who fronted country pranksters The Broken Family Band throughout the 2000s before calling time on that band at the height of their success.
He's been ploughing his own furrow ever since, with multiple name changes (Singing Adams, The Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), and a series of albums ranging from DIY indie rock, intimate folk and - with 2018's Virtue Signals - experiments in krautrock and politically-charged widescreen pop.
Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London.
“My Brother, The Racist is a song with a somewhat self-explanatory title as Steven explains, “it’s an awkward thing to sing about, but it felt like the right thing to do”. Like much of upcoming album, Keep It Light, here Steven seems to play with ideas of darkness and light, “I worried that it was a bit depressing, but as soon as we started playing together it felt positive and optimistic”. Certainly lyrically it hits a downbeat tone almost instantly, “my brother, the racist will die and I won’t know when Guess I’ll find out later, I can hold on till then”. From there though, the track seems to leave room for growth, Steven explores how they ended up the way they both are, and ultimately seems to find strength in letting go of a relationship that could never work. Musically too, the track seems to walk the line between emotional states, the bright shuffle of acoustic guitar and drums contrasted, by the more melancholic tones of piano and bass. Steven has suggested this is the best record that he’s ever made, and while that’s quite some claim, on this evidence we’re not going to argue.” For The Rabbits
“Maybe it’s just me, but the song title alone speaks to my last few months on the Internet, though not necessarily with my immediate family. Musically, Adams is still pulling out the steady folk-tinged power pop that works like a snake charmer on my ears; you can’t go wrong adding a subtle piano line anywhere in a tune” Austin Town Hall