A DIY INDIEPOP VINYL & CASSETTE LABEL

Adam Ross - I Never Thought You Couldn't Not [Digital]

Artist: Adam Ross
Title: I Never Thought You Couldn’t Not
Format: digital
Cat#: Fika117SG2
Release date: 14th April 2026
Bandcamp

Fika Recordings are pleased to present I Never Thought You Couldn’t Not, the second single from Adam Ross’s forthcoming third solo album, Bring On The Apathy.

The song is a sprightly folk-pop number led by harp, violin and crisp tape-recorded snare drum. Drawing on stylistic inspiration from the likes of The Beautiful South and Jonathan Richman the song finds Adam in a cutting mood and opens with the lines “You lack the charisma to be a cult leader but you’re knocking it out the park with your bad ideas”. The cynicism continues with lyrics like “We all know by now that none of us love people, we all know we only love ideas” and “the path to the summit is littered with the bodies of the easily distracted and the self-aware”.

As Adam explains “There’s definitely a sort of jaded edge to the lyrics on this album, but I tried to enjoy it and have some fun with that feeling. Obviously ‘Bring On The Apathy’ is quite a jaded title so I guess people will have fair warning! With this song, I didn’t want to be too direct or literal with the lyrics but the inspiration came from a feeling of alienation in the modern world. With online culture, ideas and emotions and messages can feel really one-dimensional and shallow. I guess it’s the curse of short-form content - everything has to be dumbed down and squeezed into a 90-second clip or less. Everything is presented in such a surefire way, with such certainty and confidence which can feel quite alienating for people who struggle with those two things. I was trying to respond to that feeling and maybe parody it slightly.”

As the song progresses, the lyrics continue to tumble out, presenting Adam’s particular brand of scattergun philosophy, all neatly tied up with the double-negative of the song’s title. “My songwriting process relies heavily on having an ever-evolving notes document on my phone with song ideas, snippets of lyrics, rhyming couplets and lines that I like the sound of. This song was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle of delving into the document and arranging different lines until it felt right”.

The music was recorded onto tape, using traditional analogue techniques with audio engineer and tape-recording specialist Samuel J. Smith. In an increasingly digital musical world, Adam was seeking a more organic and human experience when making this new record. The finished album, Bring On The Apathy, showcases some of the most emotionally open, lyrically deft and characterful songwriting so far from one of Scotland’s most accomplished writers. The vintage recording approach brings a warmth and intimacy to a record which is in equal parts raw and organic while also beautifully arranged and performed as Adam is joined by a raft of excellent collaborators.

The core band consists of Owen Curtis-Williams on drums, Cameron Maxwell on bass, Pedro Cameron on violin, Gillian Fleetwood on harp and (long-time collaborator with Randolph’s Leap) Pete MacDonald on piano. Mercury Prize nominated artist C Duncan was drafted in to write and perform backing vocal arrangements along with Amanda Nizich and Gillian Fleetwood.

“I love these musicians. It’s the kind of record where you can listen multiple times and focus on a different instrument each time. Each player is doing something inventive and beautiful without ever overshadowing what the song is trying to convey.”

March 31: The Leaf Library at The Ivy House

The Leaf Library launch their 4th studio album After The Rain, Strange Seeds at The Ivy House.
Support from Lila Tristram.

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About The Leaf Library

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

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

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

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

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

Reviews for After The Rain, Strange Seeds:

“locates the avant-pop sweet spot” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mojo
“Experimental Londoners hone sprawl into melodic brightness” [9/10] Uncut
”There is an eerie majesty threaded through this record that trickles through, burrows under the skin and then keeps going.” The Quietus
“a pure and unashamed blast of drone-pop heaven” Moonbuilding
“full of droney, dreamy indie rock” Brooklyn Vegan
“Taken together, it's a set that, like much of Stereolab's output, welcomes the art-school kids, stoners, and indie pop sentimentalists alike” All Music
“beautifully crafted and light” Is This Music
“a potent piece of pop music that brings to mind both Teenage Fanclub and Admiral Fallow” Spectral Nights
“An achingly opulent release” GigSlutz

Press Quotes:

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

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

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

"A melancholy wonder" – The Guardian

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

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

Carla J Easton - Really, Really, Really, Really Sad [Cassette]

Artist: Carla J Easton
Title: Really, Really, Really, Really Sad
Format: Limited edition cassingle
Cat#: Fika119CS1
Release date: 18th March 2026
Exclusive b-side: Romance Is Dead

Following her 2023 album SUGAR HONEY, Scottish songwriter, producer and now filmmaker Carla J Easton (Teen Canteen, Poster Paints, The Vaselines) made an award-winning documentary called Since Yesterday, about the history of pioneering Scottish girl groups. Their stories inspired Easton to take a new approach to her fifth album I Think That I Might Love You. She picked up the guitar and learned it for the first time, pushing her keyboard sound to the fringes on an album that's a celebration of guitar-led music - pop, indie and power.

First single "Oh Yeah" was released last month and Carla is following that up with "Really, Really, Really, Really Sad" - a song co-written with indie legend Darren Hayman (Hefner). It's out 18 March.

"This one sounds far happier than the title suggests," explains Carla. "I love songs that sound happier than they actually are."

"Really, Really, Really, Really Sad" is built like a power-pop sugar rush of big hooks, bouncing rhythms, and blistering guitars, but the lyric is basically the emotional equivalent of shrugging your shoulders after someone lets you down.

"I wrote it with Darren Hayman [of Hefner], who I first met years ago when I supported him. We reconnected later and started swapping voice notes with melodies and half-formed ideas. Darren is one of those writers who makes songwriting feel easy, playful, quick, and instinctive. This one arrived fast; it’s not melodrama. It’s not devastation. It’s just really, really, really, really sad."

"Really, Really, Really, Really Sad" and I Think That I Might Love You are both produced by Howard Bilerman (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Wolf Parade,U.S. Girls, The Weather Station). The album was made with support from Creative Scotland. 

About Carla J Easton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Adam Ross - Berkeley Street [Digital]

Artist: Adam Ross
Title: Berkeley Street
Format: digital
Cat#: Fika117SG1
Release date: 3rd March 2026
Bandcamp

Fika Recordings are pleased to present Berkeley Street, the first single from Adam Ross’s forthcoming third solo album, Bring On The Apathy.

Berkeley Street is a twisting and turning collection of snatched memories from Adam’s time living in Glasgow in his 20s. He has since relocated to St Cyrus, an Aberdeenshire village on the north-east coast but found himself in a nostalgic mood. “I was in Glasgow for a Celtic Connections gig in January 2025. It was unseasonably warm and I was wandering the streets around where I’d lived over a decade earlier. It all felt very familiar but I bumped into a guy I used to know and his hair had turned grey since I last saw him. Now, I’ve got nothing against grey hair of course, but it was a clear reminder of the pesky old passage of time.” 

“I ended up spending a lot of time around Berkeley Street while making the album, since we were working in Green Door analogue studio just around the corner. Green Door was actually the first studio I ever recorded in, back in 2009. My band Randolph’s Leap recorded our first EP there. The band had never actually been in the same room as each other and we were very naïve and unprepared. In truth, we probably weren’t ready for it. For the last16 years I’ve been thinking about going back and it finally felt like the right time…”

The decision to return came from Adam’s desire to record onto tape, using traditional analogue techniques with in-house engineer and tape-recording specialist Samuel J. Smith. In an increasingly digital musical world, Adam was seeking a more organic and human experience when making this new record. The finished album, Bring On The Apathy, showcases some of the most emotionally open, lyrically deft and characterful songwriting so far from one of Scotland’s most accomplished writers. The vintage recording approach brings a warmth and intimacy to a record which is in equal parts raw and organic while also beautifully arranged and performed as Adam is joined by a raft of excellent collaborators.

The core band consists of Owen Curtis-Williams on drums, Cameron Maxwell on bass, Pedro Cameron on violin, Gillian Fleetwood on harp and (long-time collaborator with Randolph’s Leap) Pete MacDonald on piano. Mercury Prize-nominated artist C Duncan was drafted in to write and perform backing vocal arrangements along with Amanda Nizich and Gillian Fleetwood.

“I love these musicians. It’s the kind of record where you can listen multiple times and focus on a different instrument each time. Each player is doing something inventive and beautiful without ever overshadowing what the song is trying to convey. It was a joy to work with C Duncan on vocal arrangements - a new experience for me. It really added the icing on top of our big folk-pop cake.”

A video, shot and directed by Beth Chalmers, accompanies the single and features Adam haunting the west end of Glasgow.

Carla J Easton - Oh Yeah [Digital]

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

About Carla J Easton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Leaf Library - Catch Up, Isobel [Digital]

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

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

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

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

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

About The Leaf Library

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"A melancholy wonder" – The Guardian

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About The Just Joans

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

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

Press Quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

January 21-24: The Winter Sprinter 2026

Announcing the 26th edition of the Winter Sprinter, from Wednesday 21st January to Saturday 24th.

Fika Recordings present The Winter Sprinter 2026. Four nights and twelve bands - the perfect antidote to the January blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington.

Wednesday 21st Jan: British Birds + Steven Adams + Jessica’s Brother
Thursday 22nd Jan: Comet Gain + Starter Car + The Moats
Friday 22nd Jan: Fightmilk + New Starts + Brutalligators
Sat 23rd: The Just Joans + Carla J Easton + Pelts

Tickets are on sale now!
Concessions are open to anyone unable to afford a full price ticket, no questions asked.

Tickets from wegottickets.com/fikarecordings

Fightmilk - Sounds Like A You Problem [Digital]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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