Somewhere To Go

Owl & Mouse - Terrible Things

Having already released 2 of the best albums of 2014 (Gin on Fika Recordings, and Boom Biddy Boom on wiaiwya) Stanley Brinks and Freschard are releasing Pizza Espresso - an album of duets, and a collaboration between both labels – at the end of August. 

Pizza Espresso is an album of love songs about drinking and drinking songs about love. Picture Emmylou and Gram relocated to Berlin with a guitar, a pennywhistle and a washboard and writing ten gorgeous duets to be sung on lazy summer evenings. 

“if you have time, and nothing on your mind, why, i’m free, for you and me” 

Stanley Brinks began performing officially as André Herman Düne in 1999, sharing lead vocals, guitar playing and songwriting with his brother David in the band Herman Düne for a number of years. They released several albums and toured extensively in UK, gaining and owing a lot to great support from John Peel. He has used many monikers for various side-projects, but since leaving Herman Düne in 2006, he has been known solely as Stanley Brinks. 
Born in Paris, Stan has been living between New York, San Francisco, Malta and Berlin for about a decade, always on the move. 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. 

Stanley Brinks and Freschard will be touring the UK for 2 weeks in August (joined by The Wave Pictures as their backing band), including appearances at the Green Man Festival in Wales.

Stanley Brinks & Freschard - If You Have Time

“Marshmallow-fed, mathematically inclined indie-pop.”  - Drowned In Sound

“This is what I want a modern pop song to sound like.” - Louder Than War


Cosines are a mathematical pop band from north London. Simon Nelson and Alice Hubley met on the London Underground after a Stereo Totale gig in 2009; two days later Simon was at Alice's house unblocking her kitchen drain. Since then Simon has been round and put up two curtain rails, a blind and a shelf.

This unlikely meeting got them talking and once the DIY was done they started making music together, fusing metronomic pop sensibilities, 60's grooves and Krautrock noise. Their line-up was by completed Daniel Chapman and The Late Jonny Drums, from Alice's previous band The Loves, and Kajsa Tretow from A Smile And A Ribbon.

Cosines played their first show in April 2012 and since then have performed with Comet Gain, Seapony, The Pooh Sticks and Flowers, and also at the Indietracks Festival.

‘Oscillations’ charts the ups and downs, the instability of relationships, misguided hook-ups and ‘subsequent break-ups.

The matter-of-fact blunt Yorkshire stylings of songwriter Alice Hubley’s lyrics tell it like it is, and the resulting tone is one of relief more than sadness. Simon Nelson’s songwriting contributions to the album - Lookout Mountain Drive and Stalemate - compliment Hubley’s songs perfectly and bring a second perspective to the scene.   Peppered with luscious synth tones this is music for modern happy robots.

The album was recorded and produced by the band in Wood Green at Simon’s own Klank Studio, using a variety of instruments and electronic trickery including marimba, autoharp, theremin and cranky old Moog and Roland synths. The album features guest turns from spiritual members Gabe Saucedo (Still Flyin’, Red Pony Clock) and Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor), who phoned in their recordings from across the pond.

As a band Cosines are constantly trying to find the perfect meeting point between clean synths and fuzz guitars. Though their lineage and history presents them as indie pop, they bring new wave, avant-garde 60’s pop and synthentic Krautpop to the mix, creating a sound all their own. A brilliant mélange of the likes of Love, United States of America and Stereolab.

The album begins with live favourite Out of the Fire. Its repetitive synth riffs, pulsating rhythm and crunchy guitars reveal a song which perfectly encapsulates the band and sets the tone for the album.

Nothing More Than a Feeling is pop disco anthem from a feisty girl’s perspective, about fraternisations which are never meant to go anywhere.

Pop-in-court plays out like a 70’s TV theme, with call and response synth lines weaving around a metronomic drum beat and Gabe’s marimbas.

Stalemate is a fuzzed up duet about the end of a relationship in middle management executive speak.

‘Oscillations’ closes with Our Ghosts, the epic torch song of the album, showing an entirely different side to the band. New Order-esque synth strings float over thick fuzz and Spector drums.

The album sleeve features the Legendre Polynomials, a sequence of solutions to an equation created by 17th century French mathematician Adrien-Marie Legendre.  He is one of 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower and has a moon crater named after him.

Cosines - Out Of The Fire

“They craft bittersweet indie pop” Neon Filler
“twee pop in the best possible way – jolly, carefree and full of character” Shout4Music
“each and every song they write is a rampant musical pleasure – they could force a smile on the sourest face” Bearded Magazine

Love Record Breaker is a transitionary record for Burlington, Vermont’s The Smittens. 
They’ve grown to a 6 piece with the incorporation of New York soap maker Missy Bly, who having made a guest appearance on their previous LP, Believe Me, contributes the title track here and appears throughout the 8 tracks on vocals, providing a melodically fuller sound. It’s also the last record from The Smittens to feature Dana Kaplan’s vocals pre-transition and pre-testosterone, prior to his new voice and new vocal arrangements.

This is the most forward album from The Smittens so far: sluts, whores, dead pets, not wanting to live and a rather explicit discussion of indie politics all feature as part of this record. It includes a cover of US folk duo Indigo Girls’ Closer To Fine, a homage to their queer forebears as well as their geeky pasts; The Smittens describe the original as an “80s lesbian campfire anthem”.

The title track, Love Record Breaker, was written as a response to a friend’s cold hearted Conquistadorian conquests around town, from the perspective of someone who had been through his conveyor belt of gal pals. “I wanted to convey the anger and frustration that happens in that situation, but keeping a sense of dignity despite feeling like a slut in a long line of ‘sluts’ in waiting”.

This is also a record that has taken The Smittens back to their roots, completing the circle. Writing the track These Lips returned them to their collaborative and improvisational past, not as simple as it used to be with members now living in Philadelphia and New York. Growing from a jam about a lip infection preventing Dana from kissing his partner, The Smittens twisted and turned the meaning into something far saucier, implicating both the narrator and the listener.

Closing the album is a remix of These Days from Death Team’s Johen Rafael Tilli, a Swedish producer The Smittens met on a cruise ship in the Baltic Sea: “I wanted to create a sound that could combine Scandinavian queerness with Moog syntheziers, but at the same time breathe a sense of expectation”.

The album was recorded by The Smittens at Twee Valley Manor and mixed by Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor) at his Marlborough Farms Studio in Brooklyn, NY.

Love Record Breaker comes on 10” black vinyl in one of 6 different hand screenprinted sleeves, each hand numbered.

The Smittens are friends first and open-hearted indiepop revolutionaries after that. 
Max Andrucki, Dana Kaplan, Colin Clary, Missy Bly, Holly Chagnon and David Zacharis switch up instruments, song-writing, and singing to create catchy, harmony-driven twee ballads, pop anthems, and queer love songs. Always brilliantly lyrical, and often brazenly political.

The Smittens - Love Record Breaker

Taken from the album "Chorus." Out now on Slumberland Records.

Order LP/CD: http://slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/273
Order from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/chorus-itunes

Philadelphia, PA’s Literature features Kevin Attics, Nathaniel Cardaci, Chris Schackerman, and Seth Whaland. Attics, who’d written for numerous music trades as a teen, met Cardaci and Whaland at the house venue they both operated in Austin, TX. Cardaci and Whaland each ran small imprint labels and, a million adventures later, the trio decided to form a band. Upon moving to Philadelphia the group befriended Schackerman who also joined the fold. 

In 2012, following a well-received single and a track on Gerard Cosloy’s “Casual Victim Pile II” compilation they released their debut album, "Arab Spring," which became a cult hit within the indiepop community. That album is sharp and immediate, almost mod-ish in its attack, but always tuneful and going for melody where it counts. They toured the US in support, and have performed with the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Eternal Summers, Ted Leo, Sic Alps, White Fence, Gentlemen Jesse, Hospitality, and Brown Recluse. They also appeared on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic.

In 2013 they released a follow-up 7”, “Tie Dye” and contributed a track to Esopus Magazine alongside artists like Jens Lekman and The Shins. They also played at that year’s NYC Popfest, which helped cement the buzz that was steadily growing amongst savvy pop fans. "Arab Spring" was treated to a re-mastered re-press, which followed the first pressing and quickly sold out.

Autumn of 2013 saw the band begin work on their second album, "Chorus," with lauded engineer Gary Olson (whose body of work includes records by Crystal Stilts, Mad Scene and The Beets) at his Marlborough Farms studio in Brooklyn, NY. As a beautiful autumn turned into one of the harshest winters in recent memory, Olson and the band began stretching out, enhancing the album with studio techniques dating back to the late 60s including true-tape flanging, sending vocals through Leslie speaker cabinets, and the same analog style of automatic double-tracking created at Abbey Road Studios.

The result is an album that is as immediate as it is timeless, full of effortlessly catchy and well-crafted tunes that echo pop legends like Smiths and Orange Juice. All of that time in the studio has resulted in a rich, considered sound that puts the band's arranging and playing front and center. "Chorus" is one of the most exciting pop records in years, and marks Literature at true contenders.

Literature - New Jacket

Allo Darlin’ are set to release their eagerly awaited new album "We Come From the Same Place" this October. The third full-length recording from the much loved Anglo-Australian four-piece is made up of smart, beautiful pop music, with lyrics that resonate with experience and melodies that chime, echo and soar.

The album combines the eagerness, urgency and immediacy of their 2010 self-titled debut with the contemplation, sophistication and ambition of their 2012 follow-up "Europe," and yet it goes beyond either both sonically and in the songs. It was written at a time of considerable change for songwriter Elizabeth Morris, a time during which she fell in love, moved to Italy and got married - not that that seems to have hindered the songwriting process, as Elizabeth explains, "So many things have happened since I first wrote the songs that make up this album, it's difficult to remember back to where it all began. The songs were written very quickly, during a period when I found writing songs very easy, whereas I often find songwriting very difficult. Some of the songs were written so fast I can't even really remember writing them. The songs were a joy to write, and writing them made me feel better about lots of things."

If the songs came quickly the recording of the album was a more considered process, with the band first testing out the new material at a series of small shows – christened the Compass Shows – in North, South, East and West London. They then returned to their spiritual home of Soup Studios, where they recorded their first album, to work with their long-term collaborator, producer Simon Trought. The intention was to capture a more instinctive and fluid live studio sound and to play as well as possible while the red button was on, a different approach to the more piecemeal recording of their previous two albums. Or as Paul Rains put it, "We've used three years of touring to try and get some of that sweat and grime and togetherness and sweetness and anxiety onto a record."

One of the themes of the new record is new beginnings and things drawing to a close. "Nothing feels the way it did before and I am grateful for that", sings Elizabeth on "Crickets in the Rain", a song written after her move to Italy and which she describes as "anti-nostalgia". Built along the same lines is the gorgeous "History Lessons", of which Elizabeth says, "I guess at some point I became a bit tired of everything seeming better in the past, from music to relationships to buildings to societies. We're a bit obsessed with it and it can become overwhelming. We don't live in the present. This song is trying to express that frustration."

Among the highlights of the album is "Bright Eyes", a duet with guitarist Paul Rains. Elizabeth again, "I wanted to write another duet, but the only problem with doing that is that when you play live it's very rare that the person you recorded it with can be there. So I thought it would be great to write a song with Paul singing the other part. I love Paul's singing and I wanted to hear him do it more, so it's quite selfish really!" Another standout is the Twin Peaks-referencing "Half-Heart Necklace", based on a true story from Elizabeth’s hometown. "There had been some murders, and this girl who was my age was missing and presumed killed. It turned out she had been hiding for years in her boyfriend's cupboard, and she was charged for wasting police time". 
 
Other notable tracks include the rollicking "Kings and Queens", inspired by a show they played in the USA with their friends and kindred spirits The Wave Pictures, and "Romance and Adventure", originally earmarked for a film soundtrack and written in response to a challenge from Paul to write a pop song in a minor key. Bass player Bill Botting sums up Elizabeth’s remarkable songwriting ability by saying, "The key to Elizabeth’s songwriting appeal is that she’s so adept at pinpointing certain ideas and moods; leaving one city and finding a new one and realising that beginnings and endings have a lot in common."

Allo Darlin’ were formed after Australian Elizabeth Morris arrived in London and bought a ukulele from the Duke of Uke shop in Shoreditch. She began writing music and was soon joined by fellow Australian Bill Botting (bass), Paul Rains (guitar), and Michael Collins (drums).  Their debut album attracted many plaudits including being named No. 2 record of the year by online retailer eMusic, and a glowing 1,200 word essay by Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens in the Australian critical magazine, The Monthly. Their second album "Europe" scored 8.1 on Pitchfork, was made USA Today’s Album Of The Week, and garnered praise from Uncut, Q, NME, The Quietus and The Guardian. It was also named Rough Trade Shop’s Album Of The Month, where it went on to become the biggest selling album of the year. The band have been playlisted at BBC 6Music and have recorded sessions for Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley and John Kennedy (XFM), as well being Steve Lamacq’s personal pick for BBC Introducing. Their releases to date, along with their joyous and effervescent live shows, have seen them build an intensely loyal and ever-increasing fanbase.

The truism is that third albums are difficult beasts, but by remaining true to themselves Allo Darlin’ have side-stepped the pitfalls to produce a wonderful record - thoughtful and exciting and exquisitely played – that will please their existing army of fans and newcomers alike. On first reading the album’s title may seem enigmatic, but from the very personal nature of Elizabeth Morris’ finely drawn vignettes to the more universal connections between the band and their audience, its meaning will be obvious to all who fall under the spell of this magical band.

"Breezy rom-pop brilliance." 8/10, NME

"Classic indie pop... doesn't rewrite the formula for wistful bedsit charm as much as show that it can still be carried out masterfully." Pitchfork

"A masterclass of modern cult pop." The Guardian

"Terrific, witty and heartfelt, like a less moody Belle & Sebastian." The New York Times


Allo Darlin' - Romance And Adventure

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.” 
Back In Town might have been inspired by a discussion over whether Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town” is a Christmas song or not, but it’s written about his youngest daughter Klara, to his elder daughter, about taking holidays with your family in a town you once lived.

Einar pulls in Phoenix and Mew by the way of Jesus and Mary Chain on Crash Course Christmas, resulting in a seasick wave of a pop tune. “It’s a song about the guilt of not prioritizing your relationships. It’s been a year of rainchecks and Christmas finally gives you some time to reflect. You’ve experienced so much and changed so much as a person that you almost forget your origins. Coming home for Christmas can then be a ritiual of finding your way back to what you left behind."
Drawing on the knitwear from the film Love, Actually, Turtle Neck, taps into the Backstreet Boys by way of Mac Demarco, with a sneaky reference to the legendary Norwegian Christmas hit En Stjerne Skinner I Natt.

Album closer This Christmas / Next Christmas leans in on the hook for the Norwegian Christmas TV show Jul i Blåfjell, a multi-generational seasonal staple (essentially a daily children’s advent calendar kids show). “The song is about your parents ageing and needing your help – possibly really far away - while at the same time having your own children to take care of”.

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!


Sunturns - Crash Course Christmas

Taken from the forthcoming 10-track 'Meet Me In The Silence' album.  

Seabirds - Independent Horses

Out on Fika Recordings on May 12th, 2016, on limited edition 7" and digital.
Written by Johan Agebjörn & Roger Gunnarsson. Produced by Johan Agebjörn, co-produced by Mitch Murder.

If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind [co-produced by Mitch Murder]

Fika Recordings is a diy indie[pop] label run from London.
