A DIY INDIEPOP VINYL & CASSETTE LABEL

Oct 5: KATHRYN WILLIAMS & WITHERED HAND at TWO PALMS

aka Williams & Willson, with support from Adam Ross.

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings
£17 + bf / £8 concessions for those on low- or no-wages (no questions asked).

Prolific singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams and recently reinvigorated troubadour Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand) are on the road again in support of their collaboration album, ‘Willson Williams’, which came out April 2024 via One Little Independent Records.

Support comes from Adam Ross.

Estimated timings:
Kath & Dan solo sets 8pm
Adam Ross 9pm
Kath & Dan joint set 10pm
11pm finish

KATHRYN WILLIAMS & WITHERED HAND

‘Willson Williams’ witnesses the meeting of two likeminded musicians who’ve built their successful, independent careers on inventive folk instrumentation, reflective and sincere lyricism, and not a small amount of self-deprecation. Their modest confessionals, written poetically and over nostalgic and atmospheric melodies, are as relatable as ever, and together they find new ways to unpack their feelings.

Based in Edinburgh, Scottish indie folk-pop act Withered Hand is the solo project of singer/songwriter Dan Willson. A veteran of multiple bands in late-'90s and early-2000s Edinburgh music scene, Willson began his solo career after receiving an acoustic guitar from his wife as a 30th birthday gift. Migrating slowly from bandmate to solo artist, he began singing and writing his own loose, jangly songs, eventually releasing his debut EP, ‘Religious Songs’, under the moniker Withered Hand. Finding immediate success with the new format, Willson released a second EP in 2009 before teaming up with legendary American producer Kramer to make his first full-length album, ‘Good News’, in 2010.

Kathryn Williams is often described as “a songwriter’s songwriter”, her timeless and searching work has earned her accolades, critical acclaim, and a loyal fan-base. In this new musical world when we talk about an artist’s body of work, we tend to think of a handful of records stretched out across of a handful of years, if we’re lucky. A changing industry and a focus on immediacy has done little to alter such notions, which makes Kathryn Williams something of an anomaly – releasing 12 full-length albums under her own name since her debut LP, ‘Dog Leap Stairs’, released in 1999.

ADAM ROSS

Adam Ross is a songwriter based in north-east Scotland. He has led the cult indie band Randolph's Leap for over a decade, releasing music with independent labels Fika Recordings, Olive Grove Records and King Creosote and Pictish Trail’s Fence Records and Lost Map Records. He released his debut solo album 'Staring At Mountains' in 2022. He is known for his intricate, storytelling lyrical style which often blends humour and poignancy.

May 2024 saw the release of a brand-new solo album produced by multiple Scottish Album Of The Year Award nominated composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wasylyk and released on London label Fika Recordings. Arts bodies Creative Scotland and Help Musicians have supported and funded the album in recognition of what is one of the most exciting musical collaborations of 2024.

Sunturns - First Winter [Digital]

Artist: Sunturns
Title: First Winter
Format: digital
Cat#: Fika105SG1
Release date: 2nd October 2024
Bandcamp | Spotify

The Norwegian super-group with members from Making Marks, The Little Hands of Asphalt, Mildfire, Flight Mode and Elva return with a third album of original Christmas songs. 

Get into that alternative, Nordic Christmas spirit!

Christmas III at its heart is an alt-Christmas album: the songs are firmly rooted in December’s festivities, albeit not usually relying on the season’s traditional reference points. The songs hone in on the more ambivalent sides of Christmas - family, customs and the passing of time - with a keen eye towards the holidays’ most obvious function in countries close to the Artic circle: getting through the cold and dark times to celebrate the winter solstice and the turning of the sun. 

Drawing from Sufjan Stevens’ epic indie Christmas compendium and Phil Spector’s wall of sound classic A Christmas Gift From You, Christmas III is built on shimmering guitars, snow filled piano lines, gentle strings, springy vocals and dynamic drums - all steadily conducted by Sunturns’ own Sjur Lyseid (Flight Mode, The Little Hands of Asphalt) in the producer’s seat at his Globus studio in Oslo.

With three songwriters (Ola Innset, Einar Stray and Sjur Lyseid) contributing to Christmas III, there’s an ever shifting sense of reflections. Parenthood and the struggles of the dark Norwegian winter is behind Ola’s track First Winter. “Some times I feel bad about bringing children into such a difficult world. Not so much with respect to daylight and the seasons, they’re just going to have to learn how to live with it, but with many other things – like war, poverty, climate change and even just death.” 

If previous albums Christmas I (2011) and II (2015) are somewhat different from each other, then Christmas III represents a fusion of the two. Sunturns’ debut is full of youthful exuberance and was recorded with plentiful overdubs in Oslo, while 2015’s follow up is more pensive and somewhat darker, and was recorded live during one week in the Swedish forests. Einar elaborates: “I love making records like this: short, effective sessions with limited time and therefore no bland ‘perfection’. There’s a nerve to knowing you can collectively bring it all together without the luxury of time”. Christmas III represents a return to the lighter tone, on at least some of the songs, but with the wisdom of age that emerged on the second. You can’t just return to your twenties, however much you might want to!

Merry Christmas!

Free Fika Recordings party @ Paper Dress Vintage

I'd planned for having a party for 10 years of Fika Recordings, but lockdowns scuppered that, so we're throwing a little free label party in September - which happens to coincide with my 40th. Come down, hang out, watch some bands, drink some beer.
For those with kids or that can't make it out in the evening or just want to hang out over beers and pizza, the plan is to be in the Pembury Tavern beforehand, 4-7pm.
All welcome!

From 4pm ish: Pembury Tavern
From 7pm ish: Paper Dress Vintage
Bands from 8pm ish: adults + Steven Adams + Jessica's Brother

adults

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. Reflecting on how we look after ourselves, one another and people in our community; their songs are a riotous collision reminiscent of Johnny Foreigner, The Beths or Trust Fund, bursting with crunching guitars, speedy drums and yelping dual vocals.

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. In October 2022 the band's debut album 'for everything, always' was released by Fika Recordings.

Faster, messier and sillier than they have any right to be, adults are a hopeful and joyous noisy pop band based in South London.

Steven Adams

Steven Adams is a "national musical treasure" (The Guardian) who fronted country pranksters The Broken Family Band throughout the 2000s before calling time on that band at the height of their success. 

He's been ploughing his own furrow ever since, with multiple name changes (Singing Adams, The Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), and a series of albums ranging from DIY indie rock, intimate folk and - with 2018's Virtue Signals - experiments in krautrock and politically-charged widescreen pop.

Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London. His latest album Drops came out in the autumn of 2023.

Jessica’s Brother

Jessica’s Brother are a London trio comprised of songwriter Tom Charleston, Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) and Charlie Higgs (bass). 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.

The trio formed in October 2016. Jonny and Charlie worked together in a framing business and had often talked about collaborating in a band together. Fate intervened when Jonny’s girlfriend Jessica introduced him to her brother Tom, and they found a songwriter in waiting.

Adam Ross - I Get It Wrong EP [Digital]

Artist: Adam Ross
Title: I Get It Wrong EP
Format: digital
Cat#: Fika099SG4
Release date: 20th September 2024
Bandcamp | Spotify

Following the release of Littoral Zone, the second solo album from Randolph’s Leap frontman Adam Ross in May 2024, comes a digital only EP with live recorded and demo versions of two tracks lifted from the album.

“I Get It Wrong is quite a key song to the album, thematically. The album title, Littoral Zone, refers to coastlines and this song is about the sea. I relocated to a coastal village in 2021 and spent a lot of time walking around the cliffs and beaches while writing lyrics. Life was moving fairly slowly around that time and the barrenness of the landscape and the gradual movement of the tides seemed to reinforce that feeling, hence the lyric about time moving in “different directions”.

It's a song about over-reflecting on mistakes and personal insufficiencies but also seeing the person you love going through those same thought processes. There’s some religious imagery in there (not for the first time on the album) which I suppose is linked to the idea that you can’t completely escape your upbringing even if your beliefs change. The song is also a bit about wild swimming.

The live version came from some video sessions I recorded in Glasgow with my live band. The album itself was painstakingly layered up and mixed one instrument at a time so it’s fun to approach the songs in a looser, more spontaneous way when playing live. There are some great people in the band: Andrew Wasylyk on bass, Owen Curtis Williams (Withered Hand, eagleowl) on drums, Pedro Cameron (Man of the Minch) on violin and Gillian Fleetwood on piano.”

Littoral Zone is a heavily lyrical collection of warped 70s-esque indie-folk ballads inspired by Adam’s relocation to the coast. The album is produced by multiple Scottish Album Of The Year Award nominated composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wasylyk and released on London record label Fika Recordings. Arts bodies Creative Scotland and Help Musicians have supported and funded the album.

The writing of the album saw Adam move away from guitar and onto piano, having bought a slightly battered upright piano from a local antiques warehouse as a first priority after moving house in 2021. Chords, melodies and musical ideas were recorded on Adam's phone before lyrics were slowly built up during his walks on the beach and clifftops around the village of St Cyrus where he now lives. 

I Get It Wrong pays tribute to the natural beauty and mystery of coastal landscapes, while he album's darker edges can also be discovered in Ego which dwells on aging and self-doubt.

* * *

Tour dates

22nd September - Glasgow, Gathering South Sessions
29th September - Findhorn Bay Festival (with band)
1st October - Montrose Playhouse (with band)
2nd October - Stirling Tolbooth (with band)
3rd October - Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s (with band)
4th October - Glasgow Hug & Pint (with band)
5th October - London Two Palms (supporting Withered Hand & Kathryn Williams)
9th October - Coventry The Tin
10th October - Nantwich Applestump Records
12th October - Aberdeen, Lemon Tree (supporting Kirsten Adamson)
16th October - Manchester Yes Basement (supporting Roddy Woomble)
17th October - Liverpool St Michael’s Church (supporting Roddy Woomble)
9th November - Rainham The Oast
10th November - Sheffield Dorothy Pax
14th November - Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club
15th November – Linlithgow St Peter’s Church

Adam Ross is a songwriter based in north-east Scotland. He has led the cult indie band Randolph's Leap for over a decade, releasing music with independent labels Fika Recordings, Olive Grove Records and King Creosote and Pictish Trail’s Fence Records and Lost Map Records. He released his debut solo album 'Staring At Mountains' in 2022. He is known for his intricate, storytelling lyrical style which often blends humour and poignancy.

* * *

May 2024 saw the release of a brand-new solo album produced by multiple Scottish Album Of The Year Award nominated composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wasylyk and released on London label Fika Recordings.  Arts bodies Creative Scotland and Help Musicians have supported and funded the album in recognition of what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting musical collaborations of 2024.

Adam has a track record of playing at venues and festivals across the country such as Green Man, Celtic Connections, Belladrum and The Edinburgh Fringe. His reputation as an engaging, witty, storytelling performer was further cemented by his role in ‘The Isle of Love’, a country-wide touring theatre show inspired by his songs.

His music has received regular airplay on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC 6 Music including various singles and albums of the week. He has also received excellent press in newspapers such as The Herald and The Scotsman.

“One of Scotland’s most talented singers and songwriters” – Folk Radio
“Ross’s storytelling and songwriting is still second to none” – The Skinny
“Sheer class” – BBC Radio Scotland

Fightmilk - That Thing You Did [Digital]

Artist: Fightmilk
Title: That Thing You Did
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika104SG3
Release date: 17th September 2024
Bandcamp | Spotify

Hot on the heels of announcing their third album, DIY power pop quartet Fightmilk are unleashing its third single, “That Thing You Did” on 17th September 2024..

The track sees Fightmilk return to their vicious and riff-heavy best, as singer and lyricist Lily Rae explores trying (and failing) to forgive someone after a bad relationship.

Rae explains that the song’s origins came from one of the band’s regular discussions about cover versions. “That Thing You Did started with the title. Alex wanted us to cover That Thing You Do for a show, and I liked how putting it in the past tense made it sound so much more ominous and vengeful. So I wrote the song from the viewpoint of somebody who’s just trying to move on from a bad relationship, but the ‘souvenirs’ in this case just won’t leave. As we were writing it, the meaning started oozing out without realising.”

“It’s about refusing to forgive somebody.” Lily adds. “Just because somebody says sorry, it doesn’t mean you have to accept it.”

Talking about the song’s creation, guitarist Alex Wisgard says: “We kept banging our heads against That Thing You Did for about eighteen months, because we were trying to be too clever about it - we’ve lost a lot of good songs that way, but we all had faith in this one. The version you hear was maybe the fifth or sixth time we’d played it, recorded about half an hour after we nailed the arrangement. Lily came back with a whole new chorus the next day, and that was that - the only time we’ve ever finished a song in the studio. And I still want to cover That Thing You Do.”

The track is taken from the band's upcoming third album No Souvenirs, A riotous combination of riffage, pop hooks, angst, heartfelt emotions, wit, and wisdom crashed out with infectious, gleeful abandon, the new album will be released on 15th November 2024 via Fika Recordings (Mammoth Penguins, Fortitude Valley) and new kids on the block INH Records.

Three years in the making, the 12-track album is preceded by  third single ‘That Thing You Did’, released 17th September 2024, with the album also available to pre-order now.

Following swiftly on from the success of the album’s well-received first two singles ‘Summer Bodies’ and ‘No Souvenirs’, which explored issues of body imagine and death respectively, Fightmilk are increasing the tempo as they build toward the album release which is to be marked with a headline show at London’s Paper Dress Vintage on 15th November 2024 with a full tour to follow.

Having relished in the visceral pleasure of playing together and live on stage again post Covid, the band’s new sound reflects that joy, the abandonment in doing what you love and the catharsis of doing so. Moving on with their third album and embarking on a more intuitive and collaborative style of writing, the band have embraced their influences and gone with their instincts.

The new single demonstrates how well they have achieved those ambitions, and how making a screaming racket in front of people can be both elemental and fun, sensitive and muscular within the span of moments. 

“As a songwriter, I’ve disciplined myself to keep to ‘first thought best thought’ more, and not overwork lyrics and melodies into the ground,” says Lily of the new approach. “We’re more secure in keeping weird shit in and not adding or cutting things because it feels like we’re supposed to.”

New single ‘That Thing You Did’ is released 17th September 2024 via Fika Recordings/INH Records

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 has seen them writing and recording their third album, to be released in late 2024 on Fika Recordings & INH Records. Fightmilk have turned the distortion up and the indiepop down with rougher and rawer songs about body image, death, and being fired from bridesmaid duty.

Live Dates:

15.11.24 - London - Paper Dress Vintage (album release show)
16.11.24 - Cambridge - Indie Pop All Dayer
27.11.24 - Sheffield - Sydney & Matilda (with Slash Fiction)
28.11.24 - Glasgow - Stereo (supporting Slime City)

New album ‘No Souvenirs’ will be released 15th November 2024 via Fika Recordings/INH Records

New Starts + Carla J Easton at The Lexington

Tuesday 10th September
The Lexington
Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings

New Starts 2200:2300
Carla J Easton 2100-2145
tba 2015-2045
Doors 1930

NEW STARTS

New Starts are a spikey, fresh sounding band recalling the poppier ends of new wave and angular guitar rock. Their influences include The Cars, Breeders, Bay City Rollers, The Velvet Underground and ZZ Top.

Lead singer Darren Hayman has his own long career running from the late 90s with John Peel faves Hefner to his more recent thematic and historical albums dealing with the English Civil War, William Morris and forgotten rural idylls.

“I wanted a band again,” says Hayman, “and not a band that just backed me up and played my old songs. When we form our first bands in our teens we just find some friends and work through the musical differences. I usually look for players who play in a way I’m used to. This time I looked for variance and was led by people’s personality.”

Guitarist Joely Smith [of South London’s noise-pop adults and recently DIY-punks Fresh] was recommended by a mutual friend who said, ‘She makes everything better’. Hayman and Smith shared a coffee and agreed on the correct number of guitar pedals and decided to proceed without an audition.

“There is a tendency for me to make my chords too pretty. Joely cuts against that and plays in the opposite direction.” Hayman is a fan of rules and constraints and employed a new, oblique strategy on this record. “Even though I wrote all the songs, I wanted the songs to belong to everyone during arrangement. I decided that I would say ‘yes’ to every suggestion from the band, regardless of my instinct.”

This made the songs warp and bend into new shapes and ensured that the record was the product of four individuals. Bassist Giles Barrett and drummer Will Connor come from funky afro beat influenced band Tigercats. “Pretty much the only rhythm I use, left to my own devices, is the ‘road runner’ rhythm. Will takes to care to find where the drum beat can be and we always end up somewhere I didn’t expect.”

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’ will be released 20th October via Olive Grove Records and features the singles ‘One Week’, ‘Blooming 4U’ and the album title track ‘Sugar Honey’.

New Starts - What I Specifically Love [Digital]

Artist: New Starts
Title: What I Specifically Love
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika102SG4
Release date: 4th September 2024
Bandcamp | Spotify

What I Specifically Love is the latest track to be taken from the debut New Starts album [More Break-Up Songs, out in August 2024].

As I get older the balance between my art and my music becomes more balanced, they each take up 50% of my time and my mind. As such I’m often looking for ways to make them integrate and compliment each other.

About a year ago I started painted pictures in the length of time of a song. i would paint George Harrison’s guitar during one listen of Taxman.

The video for ‘What I Specifically Love’ is an attempt to draw the band and instruments with a kinetic energy that matches the song, using sharp angular lines to match the sounds and energy of Joely’s spiky guitar. Making the ragged curls of Giles hair bounce In sympathy with his bass line.

I hope you enjoy this video, it was lots of fun and cost 0p to make.

The language of love can be vague and general for a reason, we are not necessarily blessed with a precise and accurate language for all to these situations.

In this song someone has said ‘I Love You’ but been met with ‘yes, but what? What specifically do you love?’ And so this song is the result.

It’s been a long time since i wrote a truly two chord song. I wanted the relative complex and wordy narrative to have an express train running underneath it. Me and Joely play harmony guitars. It’s very hard and you have to be very exact. This song is hard to play. 

New Starts are a spikey, fresh sounding band recalling the poppier ends of new wave and angular guitar rock. Their influences include The Cars, Breeders, Bay City Rollers, The Velvet Underground and ZZ Top.

Lead singer Darren Hayman has his own long career running from the late 90s with John Peel faves Hefner to his more recent thematic and historical albums dealing with the English Civil War, William Morris and forgotten rural idylls. 

“I wanted a band again,” says Hayman, “and not a band that just backed me up and played my old songs. When we form our first bands in our teens we just find some friends and work through the musical differences. I usually look for players who play in a way I’m used to. This time I looked for variance and was led by people’s personality.”

Guitarist Joely Smith [of South London’s noise-pop adults and recently DIY-punks Fresh] was recommended by a mutual friend who said, ‘She makes everything better’. Hayman and Smith shared a coffee and agreed on the correct number of guitar pedals and decided to proceed without an audition.

“There is a tendency for me to make my chords too pretty. Joely cuts against that and plays in the opposite direction.” Hayman is a fan of rules and constraints and employed a new, oblique strategy on this record. “Even though I wrote all the songs, I wanted the songs to belong to everyone during arrangement. I decided that I would say ‘yes’ to every suggestion from the band, regardless of my instinct.”

This made the songs warp and bend into new shapes and ensured that the record was the product of four individuals. Bassist Giles Barrett and drummer Will Connor come from funky afro beat influenced band Tigercats. “Pretty much the only rhythm I use, left to my own devices, is the ‘road runner’ rhythm. Will takes to care to find where the drum beat can be and we always end up somewhere I didn’t expect.”

Fightmilk - No Souvenirs [Digital]

Artist: Fightmilk
Title: No Souvenirs
Format: digital single
Cat#: Fika104SG2
Release date: 20th August 2024
Bandcamp | Spotify

Acclaimed indie foursome, Fightmilk announce their long-awaited third album. Entitled ‘No Souvenirs’, it’s a riotous combination of riffage, pop hooks, angst, heartfelt emotions, wit and wisdom crashed out with infectious, gleeful abandon, and will finally escape the studio on November 15 2024.

Three years in the making, the 12-track album is preceded by its second single and title track ‘No Souvenirs’, released 20 August 2024, when the album will also be available for pre-order.

A poignant, stirring and personal paean to coping with losing a loved one, the new single is a big-hearted quasi-epic, deftly navigating the fine line between remembering and moving on.

Vocalist Lily says: “This is a song about surviving a loved one’s death and what you do with the leftovers. In 2013 a close friend of mine died and it messed me up for a really long time. It took ten years to write about it in a way that felt right, because I kept trying to articulate him and couldn't get it down on paper.

“So instead this song is about that balancing act of honouring a life whilst also trying to hold onto little bits of it. I kept everything - notes, letters, texts, even a packet of instant flan mix he sent me once as a weird joke - but at the back of my mind is the knowledge that it's just stuff that I've given power. Souvenirs lose their meaning over time. The memory of him is really the only important thing.

“It's a sad song about death but I wanted it to sound huge and final, like I'm putting something to bed.”

Guitarist Alex observed: “It might be the best song we’ve ever written. It’s definitely Lily’s best set of lyrics. The second we finished it, there was no question the album was going to be built with that song at its foundation.”

Following swiftly on from the success of the album’s well-received first single ‘Summer Bodies, Fightmilk are increasing the tempo as they build toward the album release which is to be marked with a headline show at London’s Paper Dress Vintage and a full tour to follow, as they enjoy having signed to Fika Recordings (Mammoth Penguins, Fortitude Valley) and new kids on the block INH Records. 

Having relished in the visceral pleasure of playing together and live on stage again post Covid, the new sound reflects that joy, the abandonment in doing what you love and the  catharsis of doing so. Moving on with their third album and embracing a more intuitive and collaborative style of writing, the band have embraced their influences and gone with their instincts. 

The new single demonstrates how well they have achieved those ambitions, and how making a screaming racket in front of people can be both elemental and fun, sensitive and muscular within the span of moments. 

“As a songwriter, I’ve disciplined myself to keep to ‘first thought best thought’ more, and not overwork lyrics and melodies into the ground,” says Lily “We’re more secure in keeping weird shit in and not adding or cutting things because it feels like we’re supposed to.”

With international acclaim from the likes of STEREOGUM, Kerrang! Magazine, The Quietus, DIY Magazine, Brooklyn Vegan and The Line Of Best Fit already under their belts, and having sold out headline gigs across the UK, in addition to sharing stages with bands such as Art Brut, Yawners and Problem Patterns, Fightmilk look set to build on their reputation as one of the DIY scene’s best loved bands in the run-up to their much-anticipated third album.


New single ‘No Souvenirs’ is released 20th August 2024 via Fika Recordings/INH Records

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 has seen them writing and recording their third album, to be released in late 2024 on Fika Recordings & INH Records. Fightmilk have turned the distortion up and the indiepop down with rougher and rawer songs about body image, death, and being fired from bridesmaid duty.

New Starts - More Break-Up Songs [12"/CD]

Artist: New Starts
Title: More Break-Up Songs
Format: 12” vinyl | digifile CD | digital
Cat#: Fika102
Release date: 16th August 2024
Bandcamp | Spotify

New Starts are a spikey, fresh sounding band recalling the poppier ends of new wave and angular guitar rock. Their influences include The Cars, Breeders, Bay City Rollers, The Velvet Underground and ZZ Top.

Lead singer Darren Hayman has his own long career running from the late 90s with John Peel faves Hefner to his more recent thematic and historical albums dealing with the English Civil War, William Morris and forgotten rural idylls. 

“I wanted a band again,” says Hayman, “and not a band that just backed me up and played my old songs. When we form our first bands in our teens we just find some friends and work through the musical differences. I usually look for players who play in a way I’m used to. This time I looked for variance and was led by people’s personality.”

Guitarist Joely Smith [of South London’s noise-pop adults and recently DIY-punks Fresh] was recommended by a mutual friend who said, ‘She makes everything better’. Hayman and Smith shared a coffee and agreed on the correct number of guitar pedals and decided to proceed without an audition.

“There is a tendency for me to make my chords too pretty. Joely cuts against that and plays in the opposite direction.” Hayman is a fan of rules and constraints and employed a new, oblique strategy on this record. “Even though I wrote all the songs, I wanted the songs to belong to everyone during arrangement. I decided that I would say ‘yes’ to every suggestion from the band, regardless of my instinct.”

This made the songs warp and bend into new shapes and ensured that the record was the product of four individuals. Bassist Giles Barrett and drummer Will Connor come from funky afro beat influenced band Tigercats. “Pretty much the only rhythm I use, left to my own devices, is the ‘road runner’ rhythm. Will takes to care to find where the drum beat can be and we always end up somewhere I didn’t expect.”

More Break Up Songs is a collection of 12 Break Up songs because Darren broke up with someone. Again. “I suck’, he says, “But it’s never anyone’s fault. It makes me very sad but I do have to work through these things in song and there’s always something to learn. I try to make songs about breakups that could be understood by both parties. I’m not interested in nasty songs.”

Opening song ‘Little Stone in my Heart’ blisters along with Joely’s wildest guitars. The protagonist will do anything to make things right, but nothing ever is.

‘Under the Striplights’ has driving, choppy, incessant riffs, and is about the need to be anywhere but somewhere other than here. We could be under the moon or under the strip lights as long as we have each other.

Another barely kept rule that Darren instigated on this album was that each song would be a tonal equivalent to one from The Velvet Underground’s third album. To that end ‘Don’t Need Persuading’ is this record’s ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ with the narrator being unable to break free of a vortex, knowing they will stay the night against all better judgment. 

‘I’ve had a long standing distrust of the guitar,’ says Darren, ‘despite it being my primary instrument for twenty years. I thought it was time I made a record with two guitars and drums and bass. I wanted it to be bright, immediate and young sounding, despite the fact I’m old. We recorded it in four days and I think this might be the record a lot of my audience has wanted me to make for a long time.’

“The songs are vintage Hayman at first glance. And right from the start of ‘A Little Stone’, the Hefner crew will be delighted. But there’s an edge here that comes with the band arrangements. Dissonance, driven bass, and thudding toms. There’s an energy here that feels like a band in the right gear. There are lovely slow moments, too. The ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ of the album, ‘Don’t Need Persuading’, is up there with Hayman’s best songs.
It’s a great new project from one of our best songwriters. Spend some time in a sad, but upbeat world.” The Quietus

“He has fashioned an album overtly nodding to The Velvet Underground’s third - the dynamic flow is shared, as is the sound. The title lays out the subject matter, with songs as candid and sometimes equally wince-inducing as Hefner’s. But boy, does he sound reinvigorated.” Mojo [3/5]

“Darren Hayman weaves a personal mythology of love and loneliness…the results are sometimes humorous, sometimes tear-jerking, and never less than entertaining.” KLOF

“Tease the Corners and What I Specifically Love are classic Hayman” Scottish Express

“the clash between the former leader of Hefner and the guitarist Joely Smith, linked to noise pop, is striking, giving the compositions a more urgent and electric air” El Pais [Spanish]

“Darren Hayman was, before embarking on a versatile solo career, figurehead of Hefner. Here he diversifies even further, uniting with a band that offer fascinating parallels to his own style. Guitarist Joely Smith makes the most brilliantly caustic of combos against Hayman's own melodic playing, while the rhythm section of Giles Barrett and Will Connor add exuberance with their afrobeat background.” Norman Records

“It feels like those hazy summer days when you’re young, and things feel like they’re falling apart, but the sun’s beating down onto the tarmac and you’ve at least you’ve got yourself for company. There are moments where the record sounds like Pavement, maybe a little too much at times, with Hayman’s voice roaming freely with the same occasionally-unpolished charm as Stephen Malkmus.” Far Out

“ if songs of this quality are the expectation of Darren Hayman at this point in his career, that’s a very good thing” Add To Wantlist

“fresh, edgy sound harks back to the more poetic extremes of new wave” TV6 [Italian]

Stanley Brinks and Freschard at SJQ

Sunday 21st July at SJQ (Servant Jazz Quarters), Bradbury Street, Dalston, N16 8JN.

Fika Recordings presents Stanley Brinks and Freschard

Doors open 1930
Music from 2000 - 2200

Tickets £15 + bf from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings.
Some £8 concessions are available for those on no- or low-incomes (no questions asked).

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.

Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute. For this year’s “Boom Biddy Boom” she also plays the washboard.