Winter Sprinter 2019

Fika Recordings, Wiaiwya and Gare du Nord proudly present the return of annual Winter Sprinter!

Four nights, three labels, twelve bands, DJs… the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington, from January 8th-11th.

Our first two headliners are Haiku Salut and Withered Hand, playing Thursday 10th and Friday 11th respectively.

Haiku Salut are an instrumental dream-pop-post-folk-neo-everything trio from the Derbyshire Dales. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Gemma Barkerwood, Sophie Barkerwood, and Louise Croft. Between them, Haiku Salut play accordion, piano, glockenspiel, trumpet, guitar, ukulele, drums, and melodica. Their music also features electronic elements, which they refer to as “loopery and laptopery”.

Withered Hand is the songwriting output of Dan Willson. A cult figure in the Scottish music scene since 2009, Dan has released two widely acclaimed albums, New Gods (2014) and Good News (2009) and several lo-fi EPs. Currently working towards his third full length album, Withered Hand continues to tour and play one-off dates in venues from concert halls to living rooms.

We’ll be announcing the other two headliners and details of the rest of the line up shortly. In the meantime, you can buy super-early bird 4 day passes for the bargain price of £32, or individual tickets for Thursday or Friday for £11 each from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings.

Getting Obscene video from Jessica's Brother

We've got a new video from Jessica's Brother for you, taken from their forthcoming album out tomorrow!

Jessica’s Brother is the eponymous debut album from London trio Jessica’s Brother, comprised of songwriter Tom Charleston, Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) and Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band). Channelling the spirit of the Brothers Grimm to create an otherworldly atmosphere, they weave their motley influences together making a rich and eclectic vision, with nods to Silver Jews, Jason Molina, Nick Cave, Richard Thompson and Neil Young. There are themes of joy, anger and silliness in a carefully crafted world with a colourful cast of characters.

You can catch up with their recent session for Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music show too via the iPlayer too!

“All in all a near perfect debut album that borrows from all the right bands, while making the sound their own given their individual skills coalescing in all the right spots. Long may they run.” Soundblab [9/10]

“The album’s swansong, ‘Cold, White and Blue Day’ marches Jessica’s Brother to it’s solemn conclusion as fast-paced vocals tell us all which remains. A fitting ending through the light and shadows of wandering minds in a debut which grabs it’s listeners and pulls them down a looping rabbit hole.” [7/10] The405

The Smittens - Three States [Digital]

Artist: The Smittens
Title: Three States
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika067SG3
Release date: 13th July 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

Three States, the new single from The Smittens is out today!

“Three States is a coming out/transition anthem, I wrote this song amidst a need to capture the complexity of identity, politics, and everything so many of us get caught in between. There’s pressure on all of us to conform to certain standards, and it’s nearly impossible not to internalise the toxicity. The idea of three states came to me while driving back to Vermont after being at NYC Pride. It’s a window into vulnerability, fear, determination, growth, and ultimately, better living through modern day medicine. There’s beauty in complexity. What’s holding you back? What worlds are you caught between? May we all find the spaces in which we belong. Fuck the binary, baby.” The Smittens’ Dana

Pre-order the 12″ LP City Rock Dove now or listen to the new single on Spotify.

The Smittens - Love is a Word [Digital]

Artist: The Smittens
Title: Love is a Word
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika067SG2
Release date: 29th June 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

Love is a Word is the second track taken from the forthcoming City Rock Dove from The Smittens.

The Smittens’ Missy Bly says: “This song came after I heard the buzz and learned personally, that love is and requires action. This one could potentially be written forever because the list of love metaphors is never ending. Love is potential, love is forethought, love can be cruel, exalting and regular and love is definitely fun to sing about!”

The Smittens - Cats for Cats [Digital]

Artist: The Smittens
Title: Cats for Cats
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika067SG1
Release date: 8th June 2018
Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes

The Smittens return with Cats for Cats, their first new track since 2016’s Love Record Breaker, ahead of the summer’s UK tour and Indietracks appearance. Their 6th full length album will be released in August.

The Smittens’ Max Andrucki descibed Cats for Cats:

”Masc for Masc" is obviously a gay dating app cliche, and for a long time I felt like it was just too obvious a reference so I resisted it, until simply couldn't any more! I was thinking of substitutes for that lyric that I could use instead and a friend, whom i actually met on Scruff, suggested "Cats for Cats". In the end I kept the original lyric but added that one as well. Maybe I just like cats, and especially the idea of cats as little, queer icons. The song is maybe about being 40, and in a long term relationship and horny, and again how the freedom of experimentation always comes with its own costs. Like dipping your toes in water, like sailing the open sea.”

The Smittens are a 6-piece indiepop band that make upbeat and introspective tunes, tinged with vulnerability and optimism. While sonically the elements of multi-layered harmonies, countermelodies and ba-ba-ba singalong hooks still play a large part in The Smittens’ approach to songwriting, as each of the 4 main songwriters has grown, the overall perspective of the songs seems a bit moodier, and more serious. They’ve long since left behind the label of being a ‘cute’ or ‘twee’ band since their debut album 15 years ago.

City Rock Dove is instead an album of transition, ennui and nihilism; honing in on personal politics and gender queerness. The album contends with the turbulent changes of modern America serving only to cement the status quo - and it’s not just the outside world that’s changing either: The Smittens are also singing about the changes in themselves and taking a hard look inside. Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor) returned to mix the new album, having been instrumental in helping develop the richer textures first seen on 2016’s Love Record Breaker EP.

Pre-order City Rock Dove on 12" heavyweight vinyl or digitally

Catch them on their short UK tour on the dated below:
July 24 - Cambridge, The Blue Moon
July 25 - London, The Shacklewell Arms
July 26 - Sheffield, Cafe Totem
July 28 - Derbyshire, Indietracks Festival

Mikey Collins joins the Fika family

We're so happy to be able to say Mikey Collins has joined the Fika Recordings family. You might know Mike from his time behind the drums with Allo Darlin', or his work at Big Jelly Studios, but now he's finished his debut solo album and will be releasing it with Fika in August.

Today marks the release of the first track from that album - the single is called Sound in Here and it premiered over at Clash Music on Wednesday.

Hoick by Mikey Collins

Pre-order: Freschard & Stanley Brinks "Midnight Tequila"

In June we're putting out the latest album from Freschard & Stanley Brinks! Just like the long since sold out Pizza Espresso, this will be a super limited vinyl run - and once again we're delighted to be working alongside WIAIWYA on it. Listen to Success from the LP now and remember to order your copy before they're all gone...

Pre-order: Stanley Brinks "Peanuts"

Our next release is Peanuts, the latest album from Stanley Brinks (aka Andre Herman Dune). Out on the 11th of May, Peanuts is available on ruby red 12" vinyl, digipack CD and digitally from all the usual outlets.

After releasing a pair of playful records alongside of The Wave Pictures, and two albums of folk shanties and old-time calypso with Norway’s folk troupe The Kaniks, Stanley Brinks’ next release for Fika Recordings is back to being a solo affair, albeit with collaborator and long time muse Clemence Freschard alongside Claire Falzon and Helene Nuland.

Stanley Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne. Several albums and Peel sessions later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker he has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.

Pre-order Peanuts here.

The Just Joans - "You Might Be Smiling Now..." pre-order

Cult Scottish miserabilists The Just Joans are delighted to be releasing their first new album in more than a decade, following the band’s signing to Fika Recordings.

Formed in Glasgow in 2005, The Just Joans have evolved from a shambling two-piece to an accomplished sextet that embraces rivalry and relationship in the vocals of siblings, David and Katie Pope.

Once described as ‘the missing link between The Magnetic Fields and The Proclaimers’, the band have used self-awareness and self-deprecation to continuously explore themes of angst, heartbreak and detachment in their songs.

From their 2006 debut album Last Tango in Motherwell through a series of successful EPs, to 2012’s compilation Buckfast Bottles In The Rain, the acerbic wit in David Pope’s observational lyrics have helped make the band a firm favourite of the indie-pop scene. Their rise has seen them play a plethora of international festivals, such as Wales Goes Pop, Indiefjords, NYC Popfest, and of course the Indietracks festival, of which they have been long-standing cult favourites since their first appearance in 2008. 
The band are excited to release You Might Be Smiling Now…, a self-recorded and produced collection of new songs. The release offers more of the same cynicism, but from an older if not necessarily wiser perspective as evidenced on lead single No Longer Young Enough and You Make Me Physically Sick (Let’s Start Having Children) is a jaundiced slice of toybox pop that crosses The Human League and Harold Steptoe.

Complementing this shift in tone comes a more polished electronic sound on tracks A Matter of Time and Someone Else That You Like More Than Me while O' Caledonia sails along at a blistering pace like no Just Joans lament before it.

Despite the band’s obvious maturity, You Might Be Smiling Now... still manages to maintain all the emotional charm and whimsical melodies that led The List to view The Just Joans as ‘a lovable blend of sleepy acoustic guitars, Brian Wilson-esque harmonies and West Coast sarcasm.’

Discussing the new album, singer-songwriter David Pope:

“You Might Be Smiling Now... could be considered a loose concept album. The songs detail the confusion in my teenage years, the horror of my twenties and the terror of my encroaching middle age. It's somewhat self-indulgent, but I hope that these wee stories about small town boredom, drunken romance and misty-eyed nostalgia resonate with the other overgrown teenagers out there in their mid-thirties.”

The Just Joans are David Pope (vocals and guitar), Katie Pope (vocals), Chris Elkin (lead guitar), Fraser Ford (bass guitar), Doog Cameron (keyboards) and Jason Sweeney (drums).

Pre-order You Might Be Smiling Now... on heavyweight black vinyl, CD or as a download.

The Just Joans join Fika Recordings

It's been five long years since The Just Joans released their first full length album on WeePOP! and we've been eagerly awaiting what was to come next.

So we're obviously VERY excited to be saying The Just Joans have joined us here at Fika Recordings. We've got a brand new 2 track 7" vinyl from them out in July (just in time for Indietracks). No Longer Young Enough is on mustardy yellow vinyl, the flip side has Breakfast For Our Tea. If you've seen The Just Joans lately, there's a chance you'll remember one or other of these..

This one's available to pre-order right now.

And then you'll only have to wait until the autumn for the new full length album. But we'll tell you all about that in due course...