Steven Adams - Living In The Local Void [Digital]

Artist: Steven Adams
Title: Living In The Local Void
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika098SG1
Release date: 21st August 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

Steven Adams, formerly of The Broken Family Band announces new album DROPS on Fika Recordings in November 2023, and reveals first track from it today: Living In The Local Void.

“It's about time and having ridiculous thoughts about GETTING THINGS DONE. It felt like a banger as soon as we started playing it for the first time. The temptation to stay on the same chord can be overwhelming, but the chorus brought out the best in all of us who played on it I think. “

Since calling time on TBFB at the height of their success, Adams has released half a dozen albums under various names (Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), his witty, incisive lyrics and melodic sensibilities taking in DIY indie rock, folky introspection, and off-kilter pop hooks. 

Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London.

“Every record I’ve made has been in a hurry of some sort” says Adams of his new album, “and with this one I took my time”. DROPS is the first album to be credited to him as a solo artist since 2016’s Old Magick, his first new music since 2020, and his noisiest record to date.

Armed with a new batch of material, he began by upping sticks to the Welsh countryside to experiment with drummer Daniel Fordham and bassist David Stewart - both formerly of psych oddballs The Drink. The trio then took the songs to Big Jelly, a converted chapel on the south coast, with co-producer Simon Trought (Comet Gain, Johnny Flynn, The Wave Pictures) to lay down the basic tracks for DROPS.

Eschewing a full band set up (“I wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time”), recording sessions in East London followed with Laurie Earle (Absentee) on guitar and Michael Wood (Hayman Kupa Band, Michaelmas) on keyboards.

Adams then took the recordings home and to the French countryside, to work alone.“I finally got my head around home recording in 2020, while things were a bit quiet. Once I worked out how to record things I realised I didn’t have to think about time. I could let the songs evolve and change once we had the basic tracks down. After a while I started to think of them as paintings; trying something one morning, painting over it in the afternoon and attempting something completely different… it was about enjoying the process, making some bangers, playing around... and giving Simon the producer a mess to sort out when it came to mixing the record". Whenever Tom from Fika Recordings checked in to see how the album was progressing Adams would reply, “it’s taking ages but it’ll sound like it was recorded in an afternoon”.

The result is a dynamic and spirited collection of songs, with Adams's love of 90/00s US underground rock (Pavement's Bob Nastanovich is a fan) to the fore.

DROPS is a sonically compelling piece of work: from bleak/exultant opener Out to Sea and the motorik Living in the Local Void to the weirdly funereal Fascists (where Adams imagines the “little skip in our steps” that we’ll have upon outliving some baddies), and Day Trip's psychedelia in miniature. There are also moments of tenderness: the avalanche of empathy on closing track Cheap Wine Sad Face, and I Tried to Keep it Light’s “worse things could happen… I don’t know how, but give me time”.

Adams says: “I'm preoccupied by the passing of time and the way it affects how we feel. This record is about time and bewilderment and trying to make sense of things".

“…astonishing tenderness in its simplicity … brilliant lyrics.” Q Magazine
“…the tunes are instant and uplifting, but the real wallop comes from the lyrical imagery.” The Guardian
“…barbed modern life chronicles.” UNCUT

View fullsize

The Ballet - Daddy Issues [12"]

Artist: The Ballet
Title: Daddy Issues
Format: 12” LP on transparent vinyl
Cat#: Fika095LP
Release date: 26th May 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

“The amiable embrace of ambivalence distinguishes Greg Goldberg and Craig Willse’s output as the Ballet from the work of their funny musical uncles, like the Magnetic Fields’ implacably ironic Stephin Merritt, the Hidden Cameras’ riot auteur Joel Gibb, even fairy godfathers Pet Shop Boys.”  Pitchfork [7.6]

Formed in 2005 by Greg Goldberg and Craig Willse, The Ballet marry wry poeticism with pop romanticism and a queer DIY ethos to create literate, infectious pop gems. The band self-released their first two albums: ​Mattachine! ​(2006) ​and Bear Life​ (2009). These records caught the attention of indie-label-legends Fortuna Pop!, who released their third album, ​I Blame Society,​ in 2013. After FortunaPop! closed shop, The Ballet partnered with Fika Recordings, who released their fourth album, the critically acclaimed Matchy Matchy, in 2019.

The Ballet have been joined by a few other musicians over the years including Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Michael O'Neill, who left in 2007 to join JD Sampson in MEN, as well as guest appearances on previous albums from Linton of The Aislers Set, Ramesh from Voxtrot, Scott Matthew, and Kaki King. 

In addition to citing Stephin Merritt as a formative influence, Goldberg—who writes and home-records all of the band’s songs—draws from an array of pop artists and periods; from 60’s bubblegum to 80’s synthpop and 90’s indiepop, fusing these genres in sophisticated and novel ways. 

On the Ballet’s new album, Daddy Issues, listeners may spot musical nods to the Velvet Underground, Frankie and Annette, Squeeze, Billy Idol, Lenny Kravitz, the Gothic Archies, Belle and Sebastian, and New Order, among others. Goldberg gravitates towards upbeat tempos, major keys, and basic chords, using these restrictions to craft simple, catchy melodies while also layering instruments in a way that keeps the ear engaged and rewards repeat listening.

The relatively light and smooth sound of Daddy Issues sets the tone for Goldberg’s unorthodox approach to his subject matter. As with previous Ballet albums, Daddy Issues offers a detail-rich examination of contemporary queer life, with a particular focus on the stigmatised desires, pleasures, and relations of gay men. Many queer artists have responded defensively to stigmatisation by asserting the political or psychological value of queer sex. Goldberg’s approach is different. Rather than defending queer sex, he aims to capture some of its complexity and nuance.

On Daddy Issues, Goldberg’s songs describe the appeal but also the challenges of promiscuity and non-monogamy (“Eenie Meenie,” “Two Boyfriends”). His songs find humour in the mundane “dangers” of queer life (“I’m on Drugs,” “At the Bathhouse”) and in the queer juxtaposition of perversion and gentleness (“Daddy’s Boy,” “CumDumpMike”). 

An extramarital affair is treated with the levity of a teenage crush, and masculinity is characterised as both hot and somewhat tedious (“A Married Man”). The narrators of Goldberg’s songs are hedonists who go dancing all night, use illicit substances, and have anonymous, public sex, but they also express loneliness, regret, melancholy, and self-loathing (“Since You’ve Been Gone,” “The Fountain of Youth,” “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”). To use such negative feelings to stigmatise gayness is homophobic, but so is denying their existence. Daddy Issues avoids both these pitfalls, instead capturing the co-existence of ecstasy and agony with humour, tenderness, and a lack of judgment.

The album’s title references a popular psychological diagnosis for people who are supposedly looking for surrogate fathers in their sexual or romantic partners, but it also suggests the issues of so-called daddies (older gay men). Rather than offering an ethnographic or autobiographical account of what it’s like to be a daddy, Daddy Issues offers a meditation on the role of daddy, inviting listeners to imagine themselves in relation to it in various ways, while also questioning its coherence and stability. 

After all, nobody is born a daddy; it is something one becomes (or doesn’t become), feels like (or doesn’t feel like), and is seen as (or isn’t seen as), if only for the duration of an album.

https://fikarecordings.com/artists/the-ballet
@theballetnyc

The Ballet - At the Bathhouse [Digital]

Artist: The Ballet
Title: At the Bathhouse
Format: Digital Single
Cat#: Fika095SG2
Release date: 21st April 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

At the Bathouse is the new single from The Ballet, taken from their forthcoming album Daddy Issues, describing the appeal but also the challenges of promiscuity and non-monogamy.

Formed in 2005 by Greg Goldberg and Craig Willse, The Ballet marry wry poeticism with pop romanticism and a queer DIY ethos to create literate, infectious pop gems. The band self-released their first two albums: ​Mattachine! ​(2006) ​and Bear Life​ (2009). These records caught the attention of indie-label-legends Fortuna Pop!, who released their third album, ​I Blame Society,​ in 2013. After FortunaPop! closed shop, The Ballet partnered with Fika Recordings, who released their fourth album, the critically acclaimed Matchy Matchy, in 2019.

The Ballet have been joined by a few other musicians over the years including Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Michael O'Neill, who left in 2007 to join JD Sampson in MEN, as well as guest appearances on previous albums from Linton of The Aislers Set, Ramesh from Voxtrot, Scott Matthew, and Kaki King. 

In addition to citing Stephin Merritt as a formative influence, Goldberg—who writes and home-records all of the band’s songs—draws from an array of pop artists and periods; from 60’s bubblegum to 80’s synthpop and 90’s indiepop, fusing these genres in sophisticated and novel ways. 

On the Ballet’s new album, Daddy Issues, listeners may spot musical nods to the Velvet Underground, Frankie and Annette, Squeeze, Billy Idol, Lenny Kravitz, the Gothic Archies, Belle and Sebastian, and New Order, among others. Goldberg gravitates towards upbeat tempos, major keys, and basic chords, using these restrictions to craft simple, catchy melodies while also layering instruments in a way that keeps the ear engaged and rewards repeat listening.

The relatively light and smooth sound of Daddy Issues sets the tone for Goldberg’s unorthodox approach to his subject matter. As with previous Ballet albums, Daddy Issues offers a detail-rich examination of contemporary queer life, with a particular focus on the stigmatised desires, pleasures, and relations of gay men. Many queer artists have responded defensively to stigmatisation by asserting the political or psychological value of queer sex. Goldberg’s approach is different. Rather than defending queer sex, he aims to capture some of its complexity and nuance.

The album’s title references a popular psychological diagnosis for people who are supposedly looking for surrogate fathers in their sexual or romantic partners, but it also suggests the issues of so-called daddies (older gay men). Rather than offering an ethnographic or autobiographical account of what it’s like to be a daddy, Daddy Issues offers a meditation on the role of daddy, inviting listeners to imagine themselves in relation to it in various ways, while also questioning its coherence and stability. 

After all, nobody is born a daddy; it is something one becomes (or doesn’t become), feels like (or doesn’t feel like), and is seen as (or isn’t seen as), if only for the duration of an album.

View fullsize

“I definitely can see where the comparisons with Stephin Merritt pop in when you listen to the Ballet, though I think that mostly revolves around some of the sexual themes and literary writing. For me, I think Greg Goldberg pulls on a slightly different hat though, with a much more electronic focus on the latest single. In listening here, there’s a definite bounce, perhaps a nod to acts like New Order, albeit spun through the lens of Goldberg and his writing partner Willse” Austin Town Hall

Alison Eales - Mox Nox [12"]

Artist: Alison Eales
Title: Mox Nox
Format: 12” vinyl LP
Cat#: Fika094LP
Release date: 24th March 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

Alison Eales is a long-standing member of the band Butcher Boy, playing piano, accordion and other keyboards as well as arranging for choir and brass. The band have made three studio albums: Profit in Your Poetry (2007), React or Die (2009) and Helping Hands (2011). All of these albums have been well-received, with React or Die featuring in The Times’ top 100 pop albums of the 2000s. The band have also released two EPs. A compilation album, You Had A Kind Face, was released on Needle Mythology in 2022, along with three new songs, with tracks mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. Butcher Boy have supported bands including Belle and Sebastian, Scritti Politti and The Wedding Present.

Taking inspiration from sundial mottos, Mox Nox is an album about the passing of time – most specifically, the transition from day to night. Its twelve songs explore experiences of all-nighters, anxiety, travel, frustration, and friendship. The album combines acoustic and electronic instrumentation with samples of environmental sound, resulting in an indie pop record that is by turns playful and melancholy and that is likely to appeal to fans of Saint Etienne, The Magnetic Fields, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stereolab, Jake Thackray and Kirsty MacColl.

With support from Creative Scotland, the album was produced by Paul Savage at Chem 19 studios. Cover artwork was designed by Rhian Nicholas at The Passenger Press in Glasgow, using a mix of traditional printmaking techniques. The design represents a sundial and was inspired by the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, with its stylised Doomsday Clock.

Opening the album with shimmering wine glasses and dulcimer, Rapunzel is the oldest of the songs. It expresses the frustration of feeling isolated and not fully engaging with life. This theme is continued in the second track: Ever Forward is a lyric about being trapped in a dilapidated seaside town as the seasons change, delivered over a string quartet expertly arranged and recorded by Pete Harvey (Pumpkinfield).

Originally conceived as a song about falling in love for the first time, The Broken Song eventually transpired to be a song about the onset of anxiety. The approach to writing this song was unique on the album – it was left deliberately unfinished to create room for experimentation in the studio. Track four, Shadow Blister, is also unique, as the lyric was the result of a challenge to use as many sundial mottos in one song as possible. Negligence is possibly the most personal song on the album.

Closing Side A, the single Fifty-Five North has parallels with Ever Forward, but while both songs are about struggling with the change of the seasons, this song is rooted firmly in Glasgow and expresses how a place can be both transformative and overwhelming. The song features sounds sampled from the Glasgow Subway, with a rhythm track made from the sounds of the train doors closing, and a melody made from the ping of the turnstiles.

Side B opens with Through Hoops, a song about the tensions inherent in friendships between people who are almost too alike. Upbeat and energetic, the song features flute improvised by Diljeet Kaur Bhachu (Kapil Seshasayee). By contrast, Half-French Kiss is a tiny, atmospheric song built around a chromatic music box and bowed cymbal. A Natural History of California was inspired by a single line of cello played by Maya Burman-Roy (James Grant, Idlewild) and images of San Francisco by night.

Mox Nox, like Shadow Blister, is a lyric built around sundial mottos, including the title itself (‘Night, shortly’). Opening with glockenspiel played by Joanne Murtagh (Remember Remember) it builds one instrument at a time, featuring strings, flute, autoharp, dulcimer and kalimba.

A song about walking away from outgrown friendships, Goodbye features guitar played by Basil Pieroni (Butcher Boy), a musical callback to Rapunzel, and an improvised robot choir. The album closes with Come Home With Me, a lyrical counterpoint to Rapunzel with a manic musical setting. 

“It’s a thing of beauty, this record. To do her justice, I won’t compare her to individual artists, but speak (write!) of a sonic palette that binds electronica, chamber pop and folk with gorgeous indie pop, most importantly with the songs to develop all the wonderful ideas going on here” God Is In The TV

The Ballet - Two Boyfriends [Digital]

Artist: The Ballet
Title: Two Boyfriends
Format: Digital Single
Cat#: Fika095SG1
Release date: 17th March 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

Two Boyfriends is the new single from The Ballet, taken from their forthcoming album Daddy Issues, describing the appeal but also the challenges of promiscuity and non-monogamy.

Formed in 2005 by Greg Goldberg and Craig Willse, The Ballet marry wry poeticism with pop romanticism and a queer DIY ethos to create literate, infectious pop gems. The band self-released their first two albums: ​Mattachine! ​(2006) ​and Bear Life​ (2009). These records caught the attention of indie-label-legends Fortuna Pop!, who released their third album, ​I Blame Society,​ in 2013. After FortunaPop! closed shop, The Ballet partnered with Fika Recordings, who released their fourth album, the critically acclaimed Matchy Matchy, in 2019.

The Ballet have been joined by a few other musicians over the years including Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Michael O'Neill, who left in 2007 to join JD Sampson in MEN, as well as guest appearances on previous albums from Linton of The Aislers Set, Ramesh from Voxtrot, Scott Matthew, and Kaki King. 

In addition to citing Stephin Merritt as a formative influence, Goldberg—who writes and home-records all of the band’s songs—draws from an array of pop artists and periods; from 60’s bubblegum to 80’s synthpop and 90’s indiepop, fusing these genres in sophisticated and novel ways. 

On the Ballet’s new album, Daddy Issues, listeners may spot musical nods to the Velvet Underground, Frankie and Annette, Squeeze, Billy Idol, Lenny Kravitz, the Gothic Archies, Belle and Sebastian, and New Order, among others. Goldberg gravitates towards upbeat tempos, major keys, and basic chords, using these restrictions to craft simple, catchy melodies while also layering instruments in a way that keeps the ear engaged and rewards repeat listening.

The relatively light and smooth sound of Daddy Issues sets the tone for Goldberg’s unorthodox approach to his subject matter. As with previous Ballet albums, Daddy Issues offers a detail-rich examination of contemporary queer life, with a particular focus on the stigmatised desires, pleasures, and relations of gay men. Many queer artists have responded defensively to stigmatisation by asserting the political or psychological value of queer sex. Goldberg’s approach is different. Rather than defending queer sex, he aims to capture some of its complexity and nuance.

The album’s title references a popular psychological diagnosis for people who are supposedly looking for surrogate fathers in their sexual or romantic partners, but it also suggests the issues of so-called daddies (older gay men). Rather than offering an ethnographic or autobiographical account of what it’s like to be a daddy, Daddy Issues offers a meditation on the role of daddy, inviting listeners to imagine themselves in relation to it in various ways, while also questioning its coherence and stability. 

After all, nobody is born a daddy; it is something one becomes (or doesn’t become), feels like (or doesn’t feel like), and is seen as (or isn’t seen as), if only for the duration of an album.

View fullsize

“Check out jangly first single Two Boyfriends” Brooklyn Vegan

“Two Boyfriends is a song heavily routed in gay culture, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reflection on non-monogamy and promiscuity, reflected in the lyrics, “it started with a hook-up, and then another few, the problem was I liked him enough to see it through”. From there to a soundtrack that’s the middle ground of The Magnetic Fields and New Order, Greg struggles with commitment, decision making and most of all with his own tendency towards problems, ultimately he bows to his own pot-stirring tendencies, ‘monogamy is boring, though not intolerable, I’m collecting boyfriends, must mean that I love trouble’.” For The Rabbits

“I immediately thought of Magnetic Fields, Belle and Sebastian or Jens Lekman. The lyrics recall the work of The Hidden Cameras. In other words this is sweet pop with a focus on ‘a detail-rich examination of contemporary queer life, with a particular focus on the stigmatised desires, pleasures, and relations of gay men’.” Bandcamp Snoop

Alison Eales - Mox Nox [Digital]

Artist: Alison Eales
Title: Mox Nox
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika094SG3
Release date: 9th March 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

Mox Nox is the title track and third single to be taken from Alison Eales’ debut album. Mox Nox is a lyric constructed around sundial mottos, including the title itself (‘Night, shortly’). Opening with glockenspiel played by Joanne Murtagh (Remember Remember) it builds one instrument at a time, featuring strings, flute, autoharp, dulcimer and kalimba.

“I always liked the idea of using shadow puppets for this video, as it’s so in keeping with the sundial theme, but I didn’t think I had the skill to do it myself. Then I saw Manual Cinema’s beautiful work on the 2021 Candyman film.

https://manualcinema.com/work/candyman

I loved the starkness of the figures, and it inspired me to have a go at silhouette animation. I used Powerpoint to create the characters and backgrounds, and then superimposed them over time lapse footage of the sky outside my flat at sunset.”

Alison is a long-standing member of the band Butcher Boy, playing piano, accordion and other keyboards as well as arranging for choir and brass. The band’s three studio albums: Profit in Your Poetry (2007), React or Die (2009) and Helping Hands (2011) have all been well-received, with React or Die featuring in The Times’ top 100 pop albums of the 2000s. The band have also released two EPs. A compilation album, You Had A Kind Face, was released on Needle Mythology in 2022, along with three new songs, with tracks mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. Butcher Boy have supported Belle and Sebastian, Scritti Politti The Wedding Present and more.

Alison is also a member of Glasgow Madrigirls and has collaborated with bands including The Color Waves (USA), The Just Joans (Glasgow) and Featherfin (Norway).

Mox Nox is released on vinyl and digitally in March 2023 on Fika Recordings.

“Mox Nox lifts its title from one such sundial motto, fittingly translating as Soon, Nightfall, the track is Alison at her most stripped back, nodding in equal parts to Monkey Swallows The Universe and Sunday Morning-era Velvet Underground. The production, courtesy of Paul Savage at the famous Chem 19 studios, is fantastic throughout, as Alison’s poised vocal and looping ukelele are adorned by the distant fizz of echoing strings plaintive woodwinds and subtle percussive flourishes, adding gorgeous texture to the sonic landscape.” For The Rabbits [video premiere]

Alison Eales - Ever Forward [Digital]

Artist: Alison Eales
Title: Ever Forward
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika094SG2
Release date: 9th February 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

Ever Forward is the second single to be taken from Alison Eales’ debut album Mox Nox: with lyrics about being trapped in a dilapidated seaside town as the seasons change, and delivered over a string quartet expertly arranged and recorded by Pete Harvey (Pumpkinfield).

Alison is a long-standing member of the band Butcher Boy, playing piano, accordion and other keyboards as well as arranging for choir and brass. The band’s three studio albums: Profit in Your Poetry (2007), React or Die (2009) and Helping Hands (2011) have all been well-received, with React or Die featuring in The Times’ top 100 pop albums of the 2000s. The band have also released two EPs. A compilation album, You Had A Kind Face, was released on Needle Mythology in 2022, along with three new songs, with tracks mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. Butcher Boy have supported Belle and Sebastian, Scritti Politti The Wedding Present and more.

Alison is also a member of Glasgow Madrigirls and has collaborated with bands including The Color Waves (USA), The Just Joans (Glasgow) and Featherfin (Norway).

Mox Nox is released on vinyl and digitally in March 2023 on Fika Recordings.

“In the liner notes to his Tea & Symphony compilation albums, Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne writes about a late-60s pop microgenre close to my heart – the ‘English Baroque sound’, defined by ‘string quartets, woodwinds, and summer-into-autumn melancholy’. Alison Eales may be resident in Glasgow rather than Gloucestershire, but with Ever Forward, she draws from that wellspring to wonderfully yearning effect.
The same grand but minimal style of string arrangement that marks Colin Blunstone’s Say You Don’t Mind or John Cale’s Paris 1919 is in full force on Ever Forward, as is the same refined, vaulting vocal, but the result is every bit Alison’s own. It’s the second track from her upcoming debut album, and if the rest are as good as this we’re in for a real treat.” Fresh On The Net

God Is In The TV premiere

Alison Eales - Fifty-Five North [Digital]

Artist: Alison Eales
Title: Fifty-Five North
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika094SG1
Release date: 5th January 2023
Bandcamp | Spotify

Fifty-Five North is the first single to be taken from Alison Eales’ debut album Mox Nox. A song firmly rooted in Glasgow, and expresses how a place can be both transformative and overwhelming. The song features samples from the Glasgow subway, with a rhythm track from the sounds of the train doors closing, and a melody made from the ping of the turnstiles.

Alison is a long-standing member of the band Butcher Boy, playing piano, accordion and other keyboards as well as arranging for choir and brass. The band’s three studio albums: Profit in Your Poetry (2007), React or Die (2009) and Helping Hands (2011) have all been well-received, with React or Die featuring in The Times’ top 100 pop albums of the 2000s. The band have also released two EPs. A compilation album, You Had A Kind Face, was released on Needle Mythology in 2022, along with three new songs, with tracks mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. Butcher Boy have supported Belle and Sebastian, Scritti Politti The Wedding Present and more.

Alison is also a member of Glasgow Madrigirls and has collaborated with bands including The Color Waves (USA), The Just Joans (Glasgow) and Featherfin (Norway).

Mox Nox is released on vinyl and digitally in March 2023 on Fika Recordings.

“The single has parallels with another album track titled Ever Forward, but while both are about struggling with the change of the seasons, this song is rooted firmly in Glasgow and expresses how a place can be both transformative and overwhelming. The song features samples from the Glasgow Subway, with a rhythm track made from the sounds of the train doors closing, and a melody made from the ping of the turnstiles.The use of found sounds is both remarkable and quirky over which Eales’ uplifting vocals bring an enchanting vibrancy and colour. Fifty-Five North is also our Song of the Day.” Folk Radio UK [video premiere]

“a perfect fusion of indie-pop and electronica, nodding to bands like Firestations and Stereolab, as it combines glistening vocal lines with glitchy beats and transient synth melodies” For The Rabbits

“the track almost seems like a purely vocal performance, a remarkable one at that” Austin Town Hall

“‘Fifty-Five North’ is delicately crafted and far more complex and nuanced than it may initially appear. Breezy but chilly, it’s a pleasant and charming debut” Whisper and Hollerin

“a lovely piece of music, with a hint of some of the gentler sounds that were occasionally offered by the late Kirsty MacColl. It’s an ode to Glasgow from someone who is not a native but now calls it home after many years of studying, performing and working.” The New Vinyl Villain

Darren Hayman - You Will Not Die [double 12"/double CD]

Artist: Darren Hayman
Title: You Will Not Die
Format: Double 12” black gatefold vinyl and double digipack CD
Cat#: Fika089LP | Fika089CD
Release date: 4th November 2022
Bandcamp | Spotify

Following a stream of thematic and conceptual albums over the last 15 years Darren Hayman has recently returned to a more introspective, personal kind of music. Darren received critical praise, awards and government grants for albums about the witch trials in the English Civil War; the mid 20th-century boom in new towns; forgotten rural communities; and the political writings of William Morris.

“You Will Not Die is about relationships of all kinds beginning and ending, but it's also about our interior lives and how we process change as we get older. I was thinking about mortality and the temporariness of everything but also thinking of that fragility as a very beautiful thing to try and put into music."

"I think of this record as taking place at night, in contrast to the daytime setting of Home Time. This is an album about empty dance floors, lacklustre parties and lonely night buses home." The record is entirely electronic and recorded on Darren's collection of '70s synthesisers. "These instruments themselves are very fragile and mortal, they corrode and decay and behave in erratic ways. They do however, remain alive, for now."

Darren is the only musician on the album and the music conforms to a strict set of self-imposed rules; only one voice, only 12 tracks, only one polyphonic instrument. ¨Through this control and limited palette I found new melodies and structures. I wanted these old machines to guide me towards my most human record.¨

'A Real Human Being' is inspired by Darren's experience of life drawing. "Modern life encourages us to reduce people to images, jokes, memes. In life drawing, you're treating the person as a form, watching where the light and shadows fall, and then you're reminded that they are real, alive."

In 'No Lime for the Gin', a group of old friends is reunited in middle age, holding a half-hearted party where the talk is dominated by their hopes and broken dreams. 'Turn My Grey Tick Blue' is a wry look at the anxieties of dating in the digital age.

'You Were Always Here' ends the album on an optimistic note. Finding love late in life, the narrator ruminates on how the bad things happened for a reason, and that perhaps we always end up where we're supposed to be.

"In recent years my life has had its own upheavals and it would seem weird not to have this emerge in my music," says Darren. Home Time (2020) was a bright, acoustic, set of songs but was, at its heart, a break-up album. "I wanted to make fun of myself and of this kind of record."

You Will Not Die is a much slower and more brooding voyage through similar waters. It is a seductive, soulful collection of songs and instrumentals that sits among Darren's most emotive and intelligent work.

“bold and unique" The Sunday Times
“Hayman has hit a creative purple patch… a treat” Mojo
“uniquely intimate and very satisfying”  - BBC

View fullsize

View fullsize

Press for You Will Not Die

“a meditative conversation with oneself, ruminating over various aspects of growing older, amorous connections taking various courses, and the two ideas being somewhat dependent on each other. Kudos to Hayman for letting this discourse take its natural course, rather than frontload the album with its catchiest songs (many of which come towards its end, with the placement reflecting a certain positivity, obtained through such contemplation)” The Quietus

“it sees Hayman at his most withdrawn and introspective, uncovering new truths hidden in well-worn themes. This is something to be celebrated: when a songwriter of Hayman’s skill turns the spotlight back on himself – and in doing so, creates a new world in miniature scale – it’s worth taking note” Folk Radio

“Sonically, Hayman has achieved some really engaging, electronic, synth-based pieces. From the ominous, bass-heavy We Are Repaired, to the bouncy and bright Don’t Haunt Me, there are plenty of little great moments.” NARC

Snack Mag interview with Darren

Biography

Best known as the singer-songwriter of the phenomenally successful and much-loved Hefner, Darren Hayman is now 15 years, and over 14 albums, into an increasingly idiosyncratic career path, where he has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and heartbroken underbelly. Darren is also writing the best tunes of his career; increasingly complex and mature songs, he is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter.

Hayman’s first two solo albums, Table For One (2006) and The Secondary Modern (2007), charmed the critics – with The Guardian opining that Hayman’s profoundly English songwriting was “the match of Ray Davies”. Mostly joined by his band The Secondary Modern – a loose, urban folk collective, underpinning Hayman’s concrete sorrow with rural violins and tired pianos – he has released a series of albums, largely focused on place. This allowed for the exploration of nuanced subjects in detail, with a trio of albums based in Essex (2009’s Pram Town and 2010’s Essex Arms) and culminating in 2012’s The Violence, a 20 song account of the 17th century Essex witch trials. From this he developed an album of English Civil War folk songs of the time (2013’s Bugbears) and stayed with the historical theme for Chants For Socialists, which saw him set William Morris’ words to music, creating an album of kindness and hope that brought Hayman’s most critical acclaim yet. 

In 2016 Darren was awarded ‘Hardest Working Musician’ by the Association of Independent Music for his epic project on Thankful Villages, the 55 villages that survived the Great War with no casualties. 12 Astronauts tells the personal story of the only men to have walked on the Moon.

adults - for everything, always [12"]

Artist: adults
Title: for everything, always
Format: 12” pink vinyl album & digital
Cat#: Fika093LP
Release date: 14th October 2022
Bandcamp | Spotify

Combining elements of indie-pop, punk, emo and just a little bit of 2009 vintage math-rock for good measure, adults are four pals trying to find their way in a disintegrating world. for everything, always reflects on how we look after ourselves, one another and people in our community; it’s a riotous collision reminiscent of Johnny Foreigner, The Beths or Trust Fund, bursting with crunching guitars, speedy drums and yelping dual vocals.

The first single all we’ve got // all we need is a song about individual torments: “having a breakdown on the Megabus to Bristol", and about collective support: “mutual aid, building strong networks of community resistance to the hostile environment, to food insecurity, to the homophobia and transphobia by the state and about trying to look after one another”.

the secret song to end side one deals with loss, guilt, rejection and anxiety, exploring the travails of a messy breakup and the masculine urge to bury everything deep down despite the fact that that only hurts people more.

tfl has a lot to answer for is a “reflection of drinking way too much in yr mid 20s, staying up too late, burning yrself out and how it impacts on yr relationships and mental health”.

Recorded and produced by Rich Mandell (Happy Accidents, ME REX) over a couple of weekends in the summer of 2021, for everything, always is the constantly naive, but optimistic, outlook: always striving for a better future in the face of modern society’s bullshit.

adults are a noisy pop band desperately clinging on to the ghosts of 2009. 
Their songs are a silly, joyful, and occasionally sad, look back at the tail end of their 20s, a way to grapple with breakups, parties, alcohol and loneliness, and looking hopefully into the future.
They’ve released singles with Art Is Hard and For The Sakes Of Tapes, and self released an EP (The Weekend Was Always Almost Over), which was subsequently released on vinyl by Caballito records. adults are based in south London.

Faster, messier and sillier than they have any right to be, adults are hopeful and joyous, fighting through the existential angst of youth to try and find their place in a world on the brink, as grown ups, as adults. Like the octopus on the artwork says: “we're all we've got, we're all we need”.

adults are
carl (he/they) - bass
joe (he/him) - drums
joely (she/they) - guitar and singing
tom (he/him) - guitar, synth, singing

https://linktr.ee/sclubadults

* * *

the sad and sorry state of a band in the last throes of their twenties.

no one told us at fourteen that playing music would be like this. the late night load ins, scheduling annual leave to squeeze out fourteen songs spread out over fourteen days.

the news had only just reached us. dancing and laughing with the ppl we love remains everything even when we knew it was time to pick up our shoes and leave. i can still see yr smile coming and feel mine forming. and the weekend was always almost over. 
and its funny. and its all so reductive. and none of this counts until the boredom is tangible.
either way 
find comfort in that
there is always a better way to do this
the list will complete you first

for everything, always

p.s. i had a little snooze and now i will probably never arrive at yr house.

adults xoxox

“Propelled by their trademark jangling melodies and buoyant scuzzy energy, ‘things we achieve‘ reflects on the pressures of living in a Capitalist society as honey-sweet vocals interweave between whirring hooks. Showcasing adults’ ability to juxtapose poignant subject matter with an irresistibly blissful, catchy musicality, this latest single offers a slice of gloriously fizzing indie-pop that’ll both uplift and inspire” Get In Her Ears

“Clocking in at barely two minutes, the track is a belt-along blast even by Adults’ high standards, yet like so many of the best seemingly chaotic bops, beneath the clatter, there’s plenty to say. Joely and Tom share vocal duties, yelping out their frustrations at both a lack of progress and having to exist in a world that constantly demands it” For The Rabbits

“A little roll in, a nice shouted sample, then the band rushes off, running full spring through this spirited burst of pop rock. You’ve settled into the joyous nature, then the 1:37 marker hits and the song turns, hitting even more furiously as it chases down that finish line, though still keeping that melody bobbing” Austin Town Hall

“Short, sharp and spiky, there’s a touch of Johnny Foreigner in the rapid-fire vocal delivery while the jangle-pop sound is reminiscent of the underground legends Bearsuit or the much-missed Spook School at their sweetest” Spectral Nights

“their jangle rock being punctuated by a sense of leftfield, that emanates from an incessant noise-pop energy and unrelenting vocal delivery, as they race through a world of issues” Jangle Pop Hub