Artist: Adam Ross
Title: Berkeley Street
Format: digital
Cat#: Fika117SG1
Release date: 3rd March 2026
Bandcamp
Fika Recordings are pleased to present Berkeley Street, the first single from Adam Ross’s forthcoming third solo album, Bring On The Apathy.
Berkeley Street is a twisting and turning collection of snatched memories from Adam’s time living in Glasgow in his 20s. He has since relocated to St Cyrus, an Aberdeenshire village on the north-east coast but found himself in a nostalgic mood. “I was in Glasgow for a Celtic Connections gig in January 2025. It was unseasonably warm and I was wandering the streets around where I’d lived over a decade earlier. It all felt very familiar but I bumped into a guy I used to know and his hair had turned grey since I last saw him. Now, I’ve got nothing against grey hair of course, but it was a clear reminder of the pesky old passage of time.”
“I ended up spending a lot of time around Berkeley Street while making the album, since we were working in Green Door analogue studio just around the corner. Green Door was actually the first studio I ever recorded in, back in 2009. My band Randolph’s Leap recorded our first EP there. The band had never actually been in the same room as each other and we were very naïve and unprepared. In truth, we probably weren’t ready for it. For the last16 years I’ve been thinking about going back and it finally felt like the right time…”
The decision to return came from Adam’s desire to record onto tape, using traditional analogue techniques with in-house engineer and tape-recording specialist Samuel J. Smith. In an increasingly digital musical world, Adam was seeking a more organic and human experience when making this new record. The finished album, Bring On The Apathy, showcases some of the most emotionally open, lyrically deft and characterful songwriting so far from one of Scotland’s most accomplished writers. The vintage recording approach brings a warmth and intimacy to a record which is in equal parts raw and organic while also beautifully arranged and performed as Adam is joined by a raft of excellent collaborators.
The core band consists of Owen Curtis-Williams on drums, Cameron Maxwell on bass, Pedro Cameron on violin, Gillian Fleetwood on harp and (long-time collaborator with Randolph’s Leap) Pete MacDonald on piano. Mercury Prize-nominated artist C Duncan was drafted in to write and perform backing vocal arrangements along with Amanda Nizich and Gillian Fleetwood.
“I love these musicians. It’s the kind of record where you can listen multiple times and focus on a different instrument each time. Each player is doing something inventive and beautiful without ever overshadowing what the song is trying to convey. It was a joy to work with C Duncan on vocal arrangements - a new experience for me. It really added the icing on top of our big folk-pop cake.”
A video, shot and directed by Beth Chalmers, accompanies the single and features Adam haunting the west end of Glasgow.