A DIY INDIEPOP VINYL & CASSETTE LABEL

Digital

Adam Ross - Bring On The Apathy [12"/CD]

Artist: Adam Ross
Title: Bring On The Apathy
Format: 12” green vinyl | digifile CD | digital
Cat#: Fika117
Release date: 15th May 2026
Bandcamp

Fika Recordings are pleased to present Bring On The Apathy, the third solo record from Scottish songwriter Adam Ross, out 15th May. 

The album was recorded onto tape, using traditional analogue techniques at Glasgow’s Green Door Studio with Samuel J. Smith. It 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 album itself is a reaction. Whether it be in the title, the lyrical content or the method in which the sounds were captured, the listener will find elements of pushback from Adam against the world around him:

“I was feeling fairly down and uninspired about the musical landscape” Adam explains. “The risk with digital recording where every instrument is overdubbed separately is that it can end up sounding metronomic, sterile and lacking personality or a sense of space. I also started to get a bit freaked out by the topic of AI-generated music and the insidious, creeping impact it’s already having. I therefore decided that, as a bit of a protest, I wanted to make something that sounded extra-specially human and hand-crafted, where you could hopefully hear the interplay between musicians.”

For this reason, Adam decided to record the majority of the album live, as a band, playing together in the same room without a click track. “I’d put a band together to tour my last album, Littoral Zone, and I really enjoyed the way we all worked together. I don’t like to micro-manage rehearsals or over-arrange songs and I realised that everyone in the band is very creative and instinctive, rather than being robotic “session musicians”. They’re all great at improvising and adding ideas without ever impinging or encroaching on what the song is trying to convey. I was really keen to capitalise on this with the new record and it suddenly became very clear that an analogue studio would be the ideal way to capture these little connections in a way that felt intimate and authentic.” 

Green Door Studio was chosen as the destination as it specialises in analogue sound production but it had an extra significance for Adam. “Green Door was the first studio I ever recorded in, back in 2009. My band Randolph’s Leap got a demo-development grant and we 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. Recording to tape can be quite unforgiving and, in truth, we probably weren’t ready for it. It took me 16 years to build up the experience and courage to go back!” 

This time around, the “unforgiving” nature of tape recording became an inspiration. “The musicians on the record are such great players that they rarely make mistakes, so there was a confidence there that we wouldn’t need to rely on copious amounts of editing or post-production, which isn’t always possible with tape anyway. If the songs sped up or slowed down a bit or you heard the piano stool creak or someone breathing then that was all fine. I wanted it to sound as natural and “real” as possible. The vintage equipment brings a delicious amount of depth to things like the drums. I’m not sure I can go back to digital now!” 

The core band consisted 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.

Adam says “I made this album for myself and tried not to second-guess things when it came to stylistic choices. I’d been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan, Karen Dalton and Bill Callahan records and I thought it might be interesting to apply those sorts of influences to my brand of Scottish quirk-pop”. 

The title, ‘Bring On The Apathy’, sums up the mood surrounding the creation of the album. “I couldn’t get away from the sense that people are feeling quite jaded. I think it’s a natural response to the way the world is right now. There’s obviously a much wider, societal aspect to that idea, but it also relates directly to the way I feel about releasing music nowadays. There are lots of highs and many beautiful, rewarding moments that come from it but the act of promoting and marketing an album can be incredibly demoralising at times. It’s a fact that the majority of people will have nothing but apathy for the creative thing you’ve spent years cultivating and that’s totally understandable but, you know, it can be tiring. I think apathy is a big reason people decide to stop making art. So the title is meant to be empowering. It’s about recognising the abundance of apathy in the world and trying to inure myself to it and get some kind of control and power over it.” 

While those feelings of weariness and even cynicism are noticeable in the lyrics of the songs, Adam says, “I hope there’s plenty of positivity and optimism to be found in there too. I wanted there to be lots of grey areas rather than binary emotions though. There’s also a lot of playfulness and provocation in the words. I don’t necessarily mean everything I sing.” 

The sense of bittersweet melancholia is also tied in with another key theme of the record: aging. The album opens with Berkeley Street, 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. “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 entirely 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.” 

The closing track is, appropriately enough, entitled Time and examines the idea of purpose. “It’s something I didn’t think about much until recently. I’m quite good at living in the moment but as I reach my mid-late 30s I’m much more prone to a bout of existential dread.”

Self-interrogation threads its way throughout the album. “Is this a midlife crisis or is it art?” asks Adam on Crisis while I Never Thought You Couldn’t Not asserts that the path to success is “littered with the bodies of the easily distracted and the self-aware.” 

However, despite the ennui, Adam is keen to state that he has no intention of giving up. “Songwriting is a form of therapy. It’s good to explore these feelings and get them out there. I feel much better for it and, on the whole, music-making is a joyful thing for me. I’ve still got plenty of optimism and I’m already pouring it into new songs. I’m really proud of this record. It’s my favourite thing I’ve ever made. I hope people like it. Bring on the apathy.”

Pre-release praise for Bring On The Apathy:

"Masterful songwriting, memorable hooks and melodies at every turn, delicate arrangements and knowing and wise lyrics. A wonderful album. Highly recommended."  - Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) 

"Adam's music and songwriting comfortably inhabits the sweet spot between Edwyn Collins and The Beautiful South, and this album captures him in fine, fine form" - James Yorkston

"A clutch of literate and thoughtful new songs from Adam Ross, dressed in tasteful arrangements that revel in a rich chamber pop tradition. Adam’s lyrics are singular, raising eyebrows, smiles and spirits, usually in the same song." - Withered Hand

Carla J Easton - I Think That I Might Love You [12”]

Artist: Carla J Easton
Title: I Think That I Might Love You
Format: 12” vinyl
Cat#: Fika119LP
Release date: 8th May 2026
Bandcamp
A split release alongside our friends in the USA, Ernest Jenning Recording Co.

Throughout the process of making her acclaimed documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland's Girl Bands, women kept telling Carla J Easton how they bought a guitar, learnt three chords, and dived headfirst into making music. Having built her career around playing keys – through four solo albums, her band’s Teen Canteen and Poster Paints, and currently as part of The Vaselines live setup – she couldn’t shake this idea of following where so many of her heroes had led. 

That seed of an idea soon became the basis for I Think That I Might Love You, Carla’s fifth solo album – still a pop album at heart, but also her first ‘guitar’ record. Produced by ​​Howard Bilerman (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Wolf Parade, Leonard Cohen, The Weather Station) the album finds Carla gathering up friends old and new to craft a record that feels like a natural but also significant leap forward. 

The new album was inspired not only by her time making the Since Yesterday film, but also by her work within Hen Hoose, the Scottish songwriting collective that unites a diverse array of female and non-binary artists, writers and producers to create new work collaboratively. As such, I Think That I Might Love You includes a number of co-writes across its eleven new songs, including Simon Liddell (Frightened Rabbit, Poster Paints), Hen Hoose’s MALKA (Hen Hoose), Glasgow’s Man of the Minch, Canadian singer songwriter Brett Nelson, and cult hero Darren Hayman of Hefner. 

Recorded live off the floor at Glasgow’s legendary Chem 19 studio – and with just a single day’s rehearsal – I Think That I Might Love You is a spirited expression of communal energy; an old school approach to a bold new chapter, a vivid capturing of human performance.

It is also, both suitably and understandably, an album about friendship – a celebration of such things but also a reflection on what it means to lose them. Indeed, the album’s path began in a recording booth at Third Man Records in Nashville, Carla side by side with her friend and songwriting companion Brett Nelson. “We started writing about this idea of the red thread, the red string of fate,” Carla explains. “It’s the idea that you have more than one soulmate, platonic as well as romantic. You’re usually only going to meet people in your postcode, but with billions of people on the planet you've probably got soulmates all over the world. So if you find any kind of thread, that's something really important and you should pick it up and follow it.”

Lead single ‘Oh Yeah’ is also the album’s glowing opener, setting things off with a bucketload of warmth. Co-written with her Poster Paints bandmate Simon Liddell, it’s animated and full of spirit, the track wrapped-up within two-minutes, flying along in a heady rush of melodrama, all glowing melodies and a dizzying sense of adventure. 

Then there’s ‘Let’s Make Plans For The Weekend’ – a co-write with Pedro Cameron – which buzzes in an appropriately colourful style. A buoyant and sharp three-minute pop song, Carla’s voice is spirited and jubilant as the song bursts forward, characteristically infectious, an undercurrent of restless energy. While ‘Red Kites In the Sun’ is classic Scottish indie-pop. Something of a slow-build, it opens with jangly guitars front-and-centre, before the instrumentation shines and swells around her, the song opening up into a warm-hearted gem, the wistful strings adding a whole heap of romanticism that feels deeply charming. 

Elsewhere, ‘Really, Really, Really, Really Sad’, written with with Darren Hayman is swooning and decadent, a 60s tinged burst of heavy-hearted pop, while  ‘Pillars Crash Down’, written with Brett Nelson on a vintage 60s organ, feels like the moment the album’s many shades come together; the heavy-hearted nature of the album’s more withdrawn moments finding a balance with its exuberance, to showcase what feels like a bold new chapter in Carla’s ever-shifting story. 

“When you're co-writing you can find yourself working with genres or sounds that you don't normally do,” Carla says, reflecting on the process. “And that’s great, because I like to keep learning. At this stage, I'm not really trying to reinvent the wheel, I'm here to have fun.”

If that sounds somewhat flippant it’s not supposed to. Carla’s songwriting has changed and improved over the years, and that growth had led her to approach the new album with a whole new dose of confidence. I Think That I Might Love You thrives within that approach, swept up in glistening immediacy, paying no mind to over-thinking. “There’s a shared euphoria that comes from finishing a song you’ve been co-writing with someone,” Carla says. “That’s the feeling we were trying to capture here.”

It’s captured in songs that stirred from a similar place to those women mentioned above, the ones who picked up a guitar, taught themselves to play it, and dived headfirst into spaces they haven’t always been invited to. Those songs grew from long road-trips through the States, through shared voice-notes from her home to friends near and far, and finally on to the Glasgow studio where the whole album came so vibrantly to life. As such, I Think That I Might Love You is a record of communal heart and power. That’s the thread that was followed, and it’s what runs right through these songs from start to finish, binding them all together. Cherry-red and glowing with life. 

About Carla J Easton

Carla J. Easton is an award nominated singer-songwriter, releasing 4 critically acclaimed solo albums. She is also a member of TeenCanteen and Poster Paints, and has written songs/music for Belle & Sebastian, BMX Bandits, Hen Hoose & National Theatre Scotland. Championed by BBC6 Music, she has performed at festivals across the UK and internationally (SXSW, Pop Montreal, The Great Escape, Celtic Connections, Indiefjord and Pop Cologne) touring the UK with Camera Obscura, The Vaselines and Kim Richey.

In 2018, she released the SAY Award Shortlisted 'Impossible Stuff’, produced by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire/British Sea Power/Leonard Cohen) which featured singles that achieved Record of the Day, Guardian Track of the Week and BBC Scotland Single of the Week.

Her third album 'WEIRDO' was released in 2020 via Olive Grove Records - a record that Bandcamp Daily described as “all volume needles buried in the red, glitter bursting from every chorus.” The Line of Best Fit praised its “maximalist” tendencies while hinting that Scotland has found its own answer to the pop titans Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift and Pitchfork called it “bubblegum pop [with] the scrappy glamour of a homemade theatrical production”.

Her latest project Poster Paints was formed with Simon Liddell (Frightened Rabbit) during 2020. Their critically acclaimed self titled debut album was released by Ernest Jennings October 2022. 

Her fourth studio album ‘SUGAR HONEY’ was released in 2023 via Olive Grove Records and featured the singles ‘One Week’, ‘Blooming 4U’ and the album title track ‘Sugar Honey’.

She is currently completing her 5th solo studio album, reuniting with Howard Bilerman to produce at Chem19, which has been supported by Creative Scotland.

Carla is a member of the Hen Hoose Collective and Co-Director of the feature-length documentary ‘Since Yesterday: The Unsung Pioneers of Scot

The Leaf Library - After The Rain, Strange Seeds [12"/CD]

Artist: The Leaf Library
Title: After The Rain, Strange Seeds
Format: 12" album on yellow vinyl | CD in digifile sleeve
Cat#: Fika114LP | Fika114CD
Release date: 20th March 2026
Bandcamp

London quartet The Leaf Library return with their brand new album After The Rain, Strange Seeds (out on 20 March via Fika), a luminous collection of pastoral indiepop, drawing inspiration from suburban isolation, unreliable memories and the surreality of the weather. Their most immediate and melodic work to date, the richly evocative songs brim with chiming guitars, buzzing organs and warm, dulcet strings, evoking Yo La Tengo’s more contemplative moments, The Clientele’s autumnal jangle pop and early Stereolab’s motorik melodicism. The sound of the album is defined by mixer John McEntire, whose work with Stereolab and Yo La Tengo (as well as a member of Tortoise and The Sea And Cake) have been major inspirations to the band.

The album explores themes of memory and place, albeit through an abstract haze – returning again and again to specific moments frozen in time: midsummer bright hot days in the Chilterns (“Sun In My Room”), meteorology and the strange movement of the weather (“Colour Chant”), red kites circling over suburban motorways (“Some Circling”), and the uncanny feeling of dusk and nighttime creatures on “The Reader’s Lamp” (titled by celebrated film director Peter Strickland). The lyrics are vivid yet elliptical, strung with abstract ideas and imagery, conjuring a gently unsettling, though never unwelcoming atmosphere. Not quite trusting your own recollection of things, while marvelling at the oddness of the natural world, the album’s title is a good summation of the mix of strangeness and hope contained within.

As on past albums the band - founded by singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton in the mid 2000s, and now completed by drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones - have involved their extended musical family, including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) a member of the Leaf Library live band. The album also sees the return of James Underwood’s Iskra Strings, a quartet that features on four tracks, with sumptuous arrangements by Daniel Fordham, as well as regular contributor Melinda Bronstein on vocals and Will Twynham (Dimorphodons) on harpsichord. They also welcomed Paddy Milner (on Hammond organ) and Scott McKeon (guitar) – both current members of Tom Jones’ band – for a startlingly delicate rolling crescendo to closing track “There Was Always A Golden Age”.

After The Rain, Strange Seeds is the fourth studio album from The Leaf Library, which follows Daylight Versions (2015), The World Is A Bell (2019), About Minerals (2020) and a collaborative LP on Mille Plateaux with Japanese artist Teruyuki Kurihara (Melody Tomb), a double LP of rarities and compilation tracks (Library Music: Volume One - 2022) and a four track EP for electronic label Castles In Space. Band members have been involved with a plethora of solo projects, side-projects and collaborations, most recently Matt, Lewis, Mike from Firestations and singer Marlody in Mirrored Daughters.

Recorded across multiple studios between April 2022 and August 2023, After The Rain, Strange Seeds sees The Leaf Library challenging themselves with more traditional songwriting and more structured compositions (more chords and more choruses!) rather than just relying on sounds or textures. The result is The Leaf Library’s most accomplished and affecting work, John McEntire’s mix bringing a bold clarity to the band’s meticulous arrangements – closer to how they sound live than anything they’ve done before, and a culmination of where they’ve been heading over the years. With After The Rain, Strange Seeds they have created an album that is bright and transcendent yet blissfully intimate.

About The Leaf Library

The Leaf Library are a north London band playing melodic dream-like music built on layers of chiming guitars, pulsing electronics, noise and looping drones. They have released three studio albums (Daylight Versions, About Minerals and The World Is A Bell), a collaborative LP with Japanese artist Teruyuki Kurihara (Melody Tomb), a recent double LP of rarities and compilation tracks (Library Music: Volume One) and a four track EP for Castles In Space.

The band formed in the mid 2000s around singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton and has settled into the core line up that includes drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones.

On their studio albums the band have collaborated with musicians as diverse as Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele, singer Ed Dowie, noise group Far Rainbow and string collective Iskra Strings, and have provided music for a number of exhibitions, films and performances. Over the last few years they have released five Monument CDRs; an on-going series of experimental solo and side projects on their Objects Forever imprint (which also features releases by Michael Tanner, Melinda Bronstein and anrimeal, amongst others).

In their live shows the carefully constructed and occasionally delicate sound world of their albums is replaced by a sometimes noisier and more intense experience, helped by the addition of an ever-evolving collective of musicians including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis.

Associated Leaf Library bands include Beneather, Boa Resa and Molch (drummer Lewis Young), Mirrored Daughters (Lewis and guitarist Matt Ashton, plus Marlody and Mike Firestations), The Form Group (guitarist Matt), Sea Glass (guitarist Matt again, Melinda Bronstein and Mike Firestations again), The Nameless Book (guitarist SJ Nelson), Sun Drawing (Matt again), Wintergreen (bassist Gareth Jones), and Basic Design (Matt again).

Press Quotes:

“World-weary yet innocent, blissful dreampop” – Uncut

“A sensory deprivation tank of experimental sometimes-pop” – Concrete Islands

“Like experiencing The Clientele’s ghostly pastoral elegies warped through the drone melodies of Stereolab" – PopLib

"A melancholy wonder" – The Guardian

"Fascinating, bold and experimental drone-pop" – Louder Than War

“Music for a rainy Tuesday afternoon of the soul” – Pete Paphides

Adam Ross - Berkeley Street [Digital]

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.

Carla J Easton - Oh Yeah [Digital]

Artist: Carla J Easton
Title: Oh Yeah
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika119SG1
Release date: 3rd March 2026
A split release with Ernest Jenning Recording Co.

About Carla J Easton

Carla J. Easton is an award nominated singer-songwriter, releasing 4 critically acclaimed solo albums. She is also a member of TeenCanteen and Poster Paints, and has written songs/music for Belle & Sebastian, BMX Bandits, Hen Hoose & National Theatre Scotland. Championed by BBC6 Music, she has performed at festivals across the UK and internationally (SXSW, Pop Montreal, The Great Escape, Celtic Connections, Indiefjord and Pop Cologne) touring the UK with Camera Obscura, The Vaselines and Kim Richey.

In 2018, she released the SAY Award Shortlisted 'Impossible Stuff’, produced by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire/British Sea Power/Leonard Cohen) which featured singles that achieved Record of the Day, Guardian Track of the Week and BBC Scotland Single of the Week.

Her third album 'WEIRDO' was released in 2020 via Olive Grove Records - a record that Bandcamp Daily described as “all volume needles buried in the red, glitter bursting from every chorus.” The Line of Best Fit praised its “maximalist” tendencies while hinting that Scotland has found its own answer to the pop titans Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift and Pitchfork called it “bubblegum pop [with] the scrappy glamour of a homemade theatrical production”.

Her latest project Poster Paints was formed with Simon Liddell (Frightened Rabbit) during 2020. Their critically acclaimed self titled debut album was released by Ernest Jennings October 2022. 

Her fourth studio album ‘SUGAR HONEY’ was released in 2023 via Olive Grove Records and featured the singles ‘One Week’, ‘Blooming 4U’ and the album title track ‘Sugar Honey’.

She is currently completing her 5th solo studio album, reuniting with Howard Bilerman to produce at Chem19, which has been supported by Creative Scotland.

Carla is a member of the Hen Hoose Collective and Co-Director of the feature-length documentary ‘Since Yesterday: The Unsung Pioneers of Scot

The Leaf Library - Catch Up, Isobel [Digital]

Artist: The Leaf Library
Title: Catch Up, Isobel
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika114SG2
Release date: 18th February 2026
Bandcamp

“Catch Up, Isobel” is the second single to be taken from the new album by The Leaf Library - After The Rain, Strange Seeds - which is due out on 20 March via Fika Recordings. The track sees the band reconnecting with their jangly guitar  roots, after a few years of trying to distance themselves from the indiepop tag. The band found a rich new seam of melodic guitar music whilst working on the new record, including bands they’d missed the first time around (The Chills, The Go-Betweens, The Clean) and new music from the current wave of lo-fi dream pop bands (Cindy, Reds Pinks and Purples, Jetstream Pony, Massage). The lyrics, a message to someone who is struggling (“isolated in a crowded room” as the band put it) were co-written by longtime collaborator Melinda Bronstein.

The Leaf Library’s most immediate and melodic work to date, After The Rain, Strange Seeds  is a luminous collection of pastoral indiepop, drawing inspiration from suburban isolation, unreliable memories and the surreality of the weather. Recorded across multiple studios between April 2022 and August 2023, the album sees The Leaf Library challenging themselves with more traditional songwriting and more structured compositions (more chords and more choruses!) rather than just relying on sonics or textures.  The sound of the album is defined by mixer John McEntire, whose work with Stereolab and Yo La Tengo (as well as a member of Tortoise and The Sea And Cake) have been major inspirations to the band.

As on past albums the band - founded by singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton in the mid 2000s, and now completed by drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones - have involved their extended musical family, including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations), a member of the Leaf Library live band. The album also sees the return of James Underwood’s Iskra Strings, a quartet that features on four tracks, with sumptuous arrangements by Daniel Fordham, as well as regular contributor Melinda Bronstein on backing vocals and Will Twynham (Dimorphodons) on harpsichord.

The result is The Leaf Library’s most accomplished and affecting work, John McEntire’s mix bringing a bold clarity to the band’s meticulous arrangements – closer to how they sound live than anything they’ve done before, and a culmination of where they’ve been heading over the years. With After The Rain, Strange Seeds they have created an album that is bright and transcendent yet blissfully intimate.

About The Leaf Library

The Leaf Library are a north London band playing melodic dream-like music built on layers of chiming guitars, pulsing electronics, noise and looping drones. They have released three studio albums (Daylight Versions, About Minerals and The World Is A Bell), a collaborative LP with Japanese artist Teruyuki Kurihara (Melody Tomb), a recent double LP of rarities and compilation tracks (Library Music: Volume One) and a four track EP for Castles In Space.

The band formed in the mid 2000s around singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton and has settled into the core line up that includes drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones.

On their studio albums the band have collaborated with musicians as diverse as Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele, singer Ed Dowie, noise group Far Rainbow and string collective Iskra Strings, and have provided music for a number of exhibitions, films and performances. Over the last few years they have released five Monument CDRs; an on-going series of experimental solo and side projects on their Objects Forever imprint (which also features releases by Michael Tanner, Melinda Bronstein and anrimeal, amongst others).

In their live shows the carefully constructed and occasionally delicate sound world of their albums is replaced by a sometimes noisier and more intense experience, helped by the addition of an ever-evolving collective of musicians including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis.

Associated Leaf Library bands include Beneather, Boa Resa and Molch (drummer Lewis Young), Mirrored Daughters (Lewis and guitarist Matt Ashton, plus Marlody and Mike Firestations), The Form Group (guitarist Matt), Sea Glass (guitarist Matt again, Melinda Bronstein and Mike Firestations again), The Nameless Book (guitarist SJ Nelson), Sun Drawing (Matt again), Wintergreen (bassist Gareth Jones), and Basic Design (Matt again).

“World-weary yet innocent, blissful dreampop” – Uncut

“A sensory deprivation tank of experimental sometimes-pop” – Concrete Islands

“Like experiencing The Clientele’s ghostly pastoral elegies warped through the drone melodies of Stereolab" – PopLib

"A melancholy wonder" – The Guardian

"Fascinating, bold and experimental drone-pop" – Louder Than War

“Music for a rainy Tuesday afternoon of the soul” – Pete Paphides

The Just Joans - Romantic Visions of Scotland [12"/CD]

Artist: The Just Joans
Title: Romantic Visions of Scotland
Format: 12" album on black vinyl with lyrics insert | CD in digifile sleeve
Cat#: Fika113LP | Fika113CD
Release date: 23rd January 2026
Bandcamp | Spotify | Tidal

 The Just Joans' new album Romantic Visions of Scotland finds the Glasgow band in characteristically melancholic form, pairing shambling indie pop with sharp observations on romantic pratfalls and everyday disappointments, all delivered with sardonic Scottish wit, fronted by siblings David and Katie Pope, whose wry lyrics and heartfelt vocals remain at the heart of the band’s distinctive sound. 

Originally inspired by a grandiose exhibition title spotted on Glasgow buses in 2019 for a show at the National Museum of Scotland called Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland, the new album arrives six years later as a collection of semi-autobiographical snapshots from the Central Belt of Scotland. Whilst some of the details have been exaggerated for comic (or tragic) effect, the songs are based on personal experience of mundane failings, bitter regrets and missed opportunities that make up an unremarkable life.

Recurring themes of nostalgia for a bygone era and the fear of being left behind by lovers, friends and peers run throughout the album. Musically and lyrically, the band channels Village Green-era Kinks, with nods to The Television Personalities, The Smiths and Dolly Mixture.

In the past they have always recorded by themselves in a variety of bedrooms, living rooms – and the occasional toilet. For the first time they have abandoned their DIY recording practices to create what songwriter David Pope calls, “a corporate behemoth in an actual studio.” The album was recorded at Chem19 in Blantyre with Paul Savage, who is best known as a founding member of local legends The Delgados. He has also produced and recorded the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap and Camera Obscura, and has captured a slightly more muscular version of the band while retaining their ramshackle charm.

The album artwork by vocalist and painter Katie Pope depicts Motherwell Train Station – an ordinary, boring place that speaks to the subject matter of the songs, but with a hint of potential escape. As David Pope explains, “For me, the painting reminds me of the ending of Billy Liar in which Billy tries and fails to leave his hometown for the bright lights of London. Half the band also live in Motherwell, so it seemed appropriate.”

Funded by Creative Scotland, the recording allowed the band to bring in bass and cello arrangements, adding depth and a sheen of musical proficiency to their signature sound. 

About The Just Joans

The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Early demos were collected together and released as a loose concept album, Last Tango in Motherwell, in 2006. Chris Elkin joined on guitar and was followed shortly after by David’s younger sister, Katie, on vocals and Fraser Ford on bass. Over the years they have released EPs and albums on WeePOP! and Fika Recordings and have gained a cult following as Scottish pop miserabilists. 

The current line-up consists of Katie Pope (vocals), David Pope (vocals, guitar), Chris Elkin (lead guitar), Fraser Ford (bass), Arion Xenos (keyboards) and Jason Sweeney (drums).

Press Quotes:

“This is gold star indie-pop but with none of the affected feyness of Belle & Sebastian. From the stomp of album opener Think Fast, Make Conversation to electro banger Romantic Visions (Prepare For Disappointment), this is librarian louche with muscle” The Skinny [4/5]

“These ‘Romantic Visions of Scotland’ are ones you’ll want to take in” Spectral Nights

“Simple, easy-pleasing hokiness does still have a place in music, and The Just Joans know how to make it work.” The Soundboard

“This set of songs mines a great tradition of British miserabilism; like The Smiths with a smile; a sense that things are as bad as they seem but we can laugh at them and that makes it all worthwhile.” Vanguard Online

“eleven aural equivalents to Allan Bennett kitchen sink dramas, each individual vignette is an everyday tale of life in the world of The Just Joans and in turn each is a perfectly formed and utterly relatable microcosm of the day to day realities of life in the West of Scotland” The Ginger Quiff

Fightmilk - Sounds Like A You Problem [Digital]

Artist: Fightmilk
Title: Sounds Like A You Problem
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika118SG1
Release date: 21 January 2026
Bandcamp | Spotify

The acclaimed DIY, power-pop quartet Fightmilk return with an unmissable, crashing tsunami of cathartic anger as the band embrace a bold new direction with the single Sounds Like A You Problem. Released on 21 January on Fika/INH Records, the song follows up on the critical and commercial success of their last Album, 2024’s No Souvenirs, as the agitstrop-popsters look to the future by recording in a new studio with a new producer and have come back with a glorious, mean, muscular and feisty slice of pop fury.

“Sleeping on eggshells
I know too much
Behind your locked door
Man on the run”

“This is taken directly from my experience at the hands of a former partner. Whilst I’ve written about it in other songs, this is the first time I’ve addressed it this head-on,” says singer Lily Rae.

“It’s such a common experience for so many people, especially women, that I wanted it to feel recognisable and relatable to anyone who’s gone through the same thing. It’s terrifying and suffocating at the time, but then the aftermath is just anger and later pity. You spend the whole relationship wondering what you could do better and then once you’re free of it you realise the way someone treats you was never your fault, or your problem, at all.

“I didn’t intend for it to sound like Army of Me by Bjork and Plump by Hole crashing into each other on a motorway but that’s how it turned out and I’m not mad about it. Bob the Excellent Mastering Guy said it was ‘very In Utero’, so that’s nice too. A Big Angry Song!!!”

Guitarist Alex enthuses about how the band have embraced pushing themselves in a new direction.

“In ten years of being Fightmilk, we’ve got used to doing things a certain way, and as we were finishing No Souvenirs, we started thinking of it as the end of an era in some ways,” he says. “Sounds Like A You Problem was the first new song we worked on after that album, so we figured it would be a good time to try something different.

“Working with a new producer in a new studio encouraged everyone out of their comfort zone on this song in one way or another. Without any backing vocals getting in the way, we probably all just decided to scream through our instruments instead. We went into Rich Mandell’s with no agenda, half-seriously throwing references around like PJ Harvey, The Geraldine Fibbers and, er, Limp Bizkit in an attempt to match the nervous scratchy energy of Lily’s initial demo, and we couldn’t be more proud of what he’s pulled out of us.

“When we started playing it live, Lily used to yell “I’m sorry” over the middle 8, and I’m glad she doesn’t anymore. This song is many things; apologetic isn’t one of them.”

Fightmilk is Lily, Alex, Healey and Nick - a London-based four-piece who write sweaty, loud, shouty pop songs. Formed in the beer gardens of South London in 2015, the band quickly drew attention with their debut album Not With That Attitude (Reckless Yes, 2018) - singled out by Drowned In Sound for its “package of massive, Godzilla-heft hooks” and “crack–like melodies.” Gaining support from 6Music and Radio X, the band swiftly hopped in the van to play shows with the likes of Art Brut, Desperate Journalist and Nova Twins, as well as touring Germany.

Not letting a seismic global clusterfuck stand in their way, the band released their second LP Contender in 2021 via Reckless Yes. Described as “a joyous riot from start to finish” by Kerrang, it was an album with something to prove, adding stacked harmonies, analog drum machines and even heftier riffs to the band’s arsenal, while still remaining decidedly true to the band’s spiky indiepop sound. As soon as they were released from lockdown they began a near relentless gigging schedule, taking in multiple trips around the UK, support slots with Johnny Foreigner, mclusky and Problem Patterns, plus a sold-out 2022 headline slot at Norway’s Indiefjord Festival, where a sweat-soaked Fightmilk crowdsurfed their way offstage at midnight only to find it was still light outside.

The band’s eighth year in action saw them writing and recording their third album No Souvenirs, released in late 2024 on Fika Recordings and INH Records. The album was enormously well-received with John Kennedy inviting the band onto Radio X for a session and was accompanied by a full UK tour.

The Leaf Library - The Reader's Lamp [Digital]

Artist: The Leaf Library
Title: The Reader’s Lamp
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika114SG1
Release date: 14th January 2026
Bandcamp

London quartet The Leaf Library return with their fourth studio album After The Rain, Strange Seeds (out on 20 March), a luminous collection of pastoral indiepop, drawing inspiration from suburban isolation, unreliable memories and the surreality of the weather. The band have announced a series of UK dates this spring to support the release.

They share the first single, the string-laden “The Reader’s Lamp” (titled by celebrated film director Peter Strickland). A hymn to the strangeness of the natural world at dusk, the song is a gently motorik swoon through layers of guitar arpeggios, and Kate Gibson’s [something] vocals. Also featuring Paddy Milner (from the Tom Jones band) on electric piano, the single is an ideal starting point for the band’s multi-layered new album.

The Leaf Library’s most immediate and melodic work to date, After The Rain, Strange Seeds brims with chiming guitars, buzzing organs and warm, dulcet strings, evoking Yo La Tengo’s more contemplative moments, The Clientele’s autumnal jangle pop and early Stereolab’s motorik melodicism. The sound of the album is defined by mixer John McEntire, whose work with Stereolab and Yo La Tengo (as well as a member of Tortoise and The Sea And Cake) have been major inspirations to the band.

As on past albums the band - founded by singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton in the mid 2000s, and now completed by drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones - have involved their extended musical family, including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis, both members of the Leaf Library live band. The album also sees the return of James Underwood’s Iskra Strings, a quartet that features on four tracks, with sumptuous arrangements by Daniel Fordham, as well as regular contributor Melinda Bronstein on backing vocals and Will Twynham (Dimorphodons) on harpsichord.

Recorded across multiple studios between April 2022 and August 2023, the album sees The Leaf Library challenging themselves with more traditional songwriting and more structured compositions (more chords and more choruses!) rather than just relying on sounds or textures. The result is The Leaf Library’s most accomplished and affecting work, John McEntire’s mix bringing a bold clarity to the band’s meticulous arrangements – closer to how they sound live than anything they’ve done before, and a culmination of where they’ve been heading over the years. With After The Rain, Strange Seeds they have created an album that is bright and transcendent yet blissfully intimate.

About The Leaf Library

The Leaf Library are a north London band playing melodic dream-like music built on layers of chiming guitars, pulsing electronics, noise and looping drones. They have released three studio albums (Daylight Versions, About Minerals and The World Is A Bell), a collaborative LP with Japanese artist Teruyuki Kurihara (Melody Tomb), a recent double LP of rarities and compilation tracks (Library Music: Volume One) and a four track EP for Castles In Space.

The band formed in the mid 2000s around singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton and has settled into the core line up that includes drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones.

On their studio albums the band have collaborated with musicians as diverse as Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele, singer Ed Dowie, noise group Far Rainbow and string collective Iskra Strings, and have provided music for a number of exhibitions, films and performances. Over the last few years they have released five Monument CDRs; an on-going series of experimental solo and side projects on their Objects Forever imprint (which also features releases by Michael Tanner, Melinda Bronstein and anrimeal, amongst others).

In their live shows the carefully constructed and occasionally delicate sound world of their albums is replaced by a sometimes noisier and more intense experience, helped by the addition of an ever-evolving collective of musicians including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis.

Associated Leaf Library bands include Beneather, Boa Resa and Molch (drummer Lewis Young), Mirrored Daughters (Lewis and guitarist Matt Ashton, plus Marlody and Mike Firestations), The Form Group (guitarist Matt), Sea Glass (guitarist Matt again, Melinda Bronstein and Mike Firestations again), The Nameless Book (guitarist SJ Nelson), Sun Drawing (Matt again), Wintergreen (bassist Gareth Jones), and Basic Design (Matt again).

“World-weary yet innocent, blissful dreampop” – Uncut

“A sensory deprivation tank of experimental sometimes-pop” – Concrete Islands

“Like experiencing The Clientele’s ghostly pastoral elegies warped through the drone melodies of Stereolab" – PopLib

"A melancholy wonder" – The Guardian

"Fascinating, bold and experimental drone-pop" – Louder Than War

“Music for a rainy Tuesday afternoon of the soul” – Pete Paphides

Press for The Reader’s Lamp

“There’s a touch of Delgados in the song’s gentle guitar tones while Kate Gibson’s vocals glide over in style. Described as ‘a hymn to the strangeness of the natural world at dusk’, there’s also an eerie undersetting to keep you guessing.” Spectral Nights

“The Reader’s Lamp taps into an 80s indie sound, most of all the C86 and Subway/Sarah scene, but takes a different route with those influences. The production is very different however, lush and comforting, and the violin adds a wistful flavour of Scottish folk sounds, giving it a winning combination of the pastoral and the suburban.” Analogue Trash

“The Leaf Library managed to completely captivate me, without even so much as a whisper; it’s just driving rhythm movements and a guitar circling overhead, and I was head-over-heels. Then Kate Gibson enters the picture and the vibrance of the song is cemented within my mind” Austin Town Hall

The Just Joans - Oh Veronica, How Right You Are [Digital]

Artist: The Just Joans
Title: Oh Veronica, How Right You Are
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika113SG3
Release date: 13th January 2026
Bandcamp

Ahead of the release of their new album Romantic Visions of Scotland, Glasgow’s The Just Joans release the video for the single “Oh Veronica, How Right You Are”. Fronted by siblings David and Katie Pope, the song is sung by Katie and explores the self-indulgent nature of a 40-something songwriter banging on about his disappointing lovelife. (David is 45.)

The video is set at an awkward house party where a moustachioed David is subjecting the other guests to his own songs when they would rather be singing karaoke and chatting to each other. The video was inspired by the countless house parties where some failed rockstar whips out an acoustic guitar and bores everyone to tears with their narcissistic drivel.

Usually opting for a more DIY approach to recording, Romantic Visions of Scotland is their first album to be recorded in a proper studio. They worked with The Delgados’ Paul Savage at Chem19 in Blantyre. As David explains he worked with Paul in the studio, “to give it a bit of a kitchen-sink Motown style production”. Funded by Creative Scotland, the recording allowed the band to bring in bass and cello arrangements, adding depth and a sheen of musical proficiency to their signature sound.

Originally inspired by a grandiose exhibition title spotted on Glasgow buses in 2019 for a show at the National Museum of Scotland called Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland, the new album arrives six years later as a collection of semi-autobiographical snapshots from the Central Belt of Scotland. Whilst some of the details have been exaggerated for comic (or tragic) effect, the songs are based on personal experience of mundane failings, bitter regrets and missed opportunities that make up an unremarkable life.

Recurring themes of nostalgia for a bygone era and the fear of being left behind by lovers, friends and peers run throughout the album. Musically and lyrically, the band channels Village Green-era Kinks, with nods to The Television Personalities, The Smiths and Dolly Mixture.

The Just Joans will be returning to a headline slot at The Winter Sprinter at London’s The Lexington in January, with an album launch show in Glasgow on 23 January and a show at Edinburgh’s The Wee Red Bar.

Live dates:
Jan 23: Mono, Glasgow
Jan 24: The Lexington, London, The Winter Sprinter
Jan 30: The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh

About The Just Joans

The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Early demos were collected together and released as a loose concept album, Last Tango in Motherwell, in 2006. Chris Elkin joined on guitar and was followed shortly after by David’s younger sister, Katie, on vocals and Fraser Ford on bass. Over the years they have released EPs and albums on WeePOP! and Fika Recordings and have gained a cult following as Scottish pop miserabilists. 

The current line-up consists of Katie Pope (vocals), David Pope (vocals, guitar), Chris Elkin (lead guitar), Fraser Ford (bass), Arion Xenos (keyboards) and Jason Sweeney (drums).

Press Quotes:

“They fit snugly into the scratchy, low budget Scottish indie tradition of The Delgados and Arab Strap… There’s mischief in this miserablism.” - Mojo 4*s

“Glasgow’s The Just Joans have documented the romantic pratfalls of a generation of indie kids with sardonic wit and a shambling musical style where Stephin Merrit lies down with The Vaselines.” - Uncut

“Funny and sad, it’s the kind of song that made Red House Painters, The Magnetic Fields and The Wedding Present’s early albums so easy to embrace; an unpretentious sharing of relatable gloom.” - Record Collector