Artist: Crake
Title: Bobbie
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika090SG3
Release date: 10th March 2022
Bandcamp | Spotify
“A pensive, dejected moment of magic, but magic nonetheless” Gold Flake Paint
"Charming and intimate alt-folk” Dork
"The guitars sizzle like lightning bolts striking against an otherwise clear sky, while Sandle’s distinct, hoarse vocal plays like another instrument” Secret Meeting
"In a world of cynics, [Crake] make you believe anything might still be possible” For The Rabbits
Leeds quartet Crake have shared a compelling new single, ‘Bobbie’. It’s the latest track to come from their upcoming debut album, ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’, which arrives via Fika Recordings on May 27th.
The band’s curious combination of gentle alt-folk and folkloric lyrics have received increasing attention of late. James Smith of Yard Act declared them “the best band in Leeds” after he played out their most recent single ‘Winter’s Song’ on Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio 6 Music show. They’ve also been receiving plenty of acclaim from tastemaker sites like GoldFlakePaint, Dork, For The Rabbits, Beats Per Minute, Secret Meeting and more.
Today, they follow up ‘Winter’s Song’ with new single ‘Bobbie’. The band’s chief songwriter, Rowan Sandle, gets much of her lyrical inspiration from nature writing and the latest single came to her after she read Frank Fraser Darling’s ‘Island Years, Island Farm’ - a book about how he made temporary homes on remote Hebridean Islands whilst researching seabirds and seals. However, rather than focusing on the book’s protagonist, the song provides a largely fictional account of the story of his wife Bobbie Fraser Darling who, despite her constant presence, is reduced to a background figure in the book.
Speaking about the song, Sandle said: “She’s there with him the whole time, helping with his work alongside all the care work to bring up their child in these remote and inhospitable places. Yet we are given very little information about her, so Bobbie is me wanting to know what it was like from her perspective. Some events are factual, directly taken from the book, for example her love of chickweed and the time they had to call a vet as no doctor was near. But other things are more speculative, imagined and questioned. The answers I’ll never know, and maybe she wanted it that way”
Sandle’s curious worldview is at the heart of much of their forthcoming record. She believes that life isn’t as black and white as we’ve been taught, and that queer nature may hold the key to revealing the true nature of human experience. That’s why things like slime mould - single-celled organisms that form a single body when in search of food - and brittle starfish - a type of starfish whose awareness isn’t concentrated in one place - emerge over and over on ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’ and furnish it with a folklore all of its own.
Alongside the more obscure nature references, there’s also a very human and tragic undercurrent that runs through ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’. Sandle’s friend Anna was working for a women's liberation group in Syria when she was hit by a Turkish airstrike and lost her life. The album directly explores the grief that followed and the lessons Sandle learnt in dealing with such a significant loss.
Both mythical and pragmatic, ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’ is a sumptuous introduction to a world that has plenty to offer to all who pass through.
Press for Bobbie:
“A band that will rate very high on our list of Favorite Discoveries of this year will be Crake. Their previous single, “Winter’s Song”, was so good it had us comparing the English band to Big Thief. That single track set the standard for indie-folk and Gothic-folk music this year and probably years to come. What separates them and Big Thief from the pack is the songwriting of their front-people. For Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker is considered one of the great singer-songwriters of the century. Such accolades will soon be showered upon Rowan Sandle, whose storytelling stands at the fore on “Bobbie”.
Whereas “Winter’s Song” was soul-crushing in its approach, “Bobbie” is a vibrant and chest-swelling folk-rocker. There are moments where the song touches the edges of breathtaking, but then the band cleverly pull it back and shift the atmosphere to one of quiet desperation. The orchestration is brilliant, providing the perfect canvas for Sandle’s terrific story of a woman who hid in the shadows – or more like was put in the shadows.” The Revue
“Another Leeds act making a big noise, Crake's combination of alt.folk and indie is winning fans all over - especially with this fictional account about a real-life Hebridean seabird and seal researcher. It's a suitably curious track that showcases their unique perspective on life, and song-writing.” PRS For Music
“The track is set to a suitably bruising soundtrack, the drums crashing like waves against a Hebridean cliff-face, as the soaring guitars meander like gulls in the wind, and Rowan’s voice sings out as if she’s standing amidst all the chaos of nature quietly screaming into the void. As fascinating, unique and exciting as ever, there simply isn’t another band like Crake, and they’re all the better for that fact.” For The Rabbits
“Crake support this love letter with a knotty dream-folk sound, which bounds along with more energy and heat than most of their songs, perhaps reflecting Sandle’s slight annoyance that “Bobbie” doesn’t get enough credit. Well, with “Bobbie”, Crake have done what they can to redress the history books, and it’s a marvellous little snapshot of not just one woman, but the kinds of women that have been behind great men throughout history.” Beats Per Minute
“it’s beautifully dizzying. This song really hits home when it hits the 48 second mark, turning into this beautiful stretch of understated melody, riding back into the next verse ever so casually. I dare you to listen through this whole song and not be charmed” Austin Town Hall
“a gentle folk opening with sublime yet jangly guitar hooks” Spectral Nights
