Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update. We’ve got tracks from Home Counties, Bizarrefae, P&B, Fat White Family & more. If you like what you hear please follow and share this playlist, it helps us keep doing our thing by getting the algorithms on our side. Also please support the artists featured in any way you can!
Until next week
Helen (Futureproof) x
Been Stellar – Sweet
New York based indie outfit Been Stellar have shared captivating new single Sweet, taken from their forthcoming debut LP Scream from New York, NY. The melancholic track features frenetic, interlocking rhythms paired with frontman Sam Slocum’s soft yearning vocals and he says of the track “I really tried to let the music inform the lyrics, and to not overthink what was coming from the song’s natural feeling. One of the first lines that came to me was ‘we’re speaking when we don’t know what to say‘. I think in close relationships, the most pure moments shouldn’t need to be spoken about. And in life in general, the things that matter the most and bring people together shouldn’t warrant many words, if any. Words complicate feeling sometimes.”
Our Girl – Relief
London-based trio Our Girl have dropped enthralling new single Relief which speaks to the life-giving importance of queer community; a sentiment reflected in the chorus of friends’ voices accompanying singer/songwriter Soph Nathan as the song builds to its close. Nathan states: “This is a love song to queer people having a hard time of it. It takes time to unlearn the things we were taught to believe, and to feel wholly proud in the face of people and expectations that are often working against you. This song is about my experience of moving through that, and celebrating how I feel now.” Catch Our Girl headlining at The Lexington, London on 5th June, followed by performances at The Great Escape and Wanderlust Festival.
P&B – Waste My Time
Singer-songwriter duo P&B (aka Paris Ashwood & Bob Tinsley) have shared their infectious new single Waste My Time – a track that explores the disconnect felt for things that you’re no longer in love with & getting lost in the process of trying to rediscover yourself. Bob says of the release “It’s always one of the last ones in our set & goes down well with the audience every time. Usually, it’s just the two of us playing it, so it’s great to finally give our listeners a fully-fledged studio version with a full band sound.” With Paris’s love for the country style, her lyrics & vocal melodies have a dramatic & emotional emphasis while Bob’s background in funk, soul & jazz, makes the instrumental element of their music very intricate at times, with a few rock & blues influences appearing in the form of tasteful guitar lines & solos. A real ear-worm for sure!
Wu-Lu – Daylight Song
South London’s singer-songwriter Wu-Lu has shared new single Daylight Song, his first track since the 2022 album LOGGERHEAD, accompanied by a video directed by Ethan Barrett. The track is taken from Wu-Lu‘s upcoming EP Learning To Swim On Empty, which plays like a series of diary entries and is inspired by growing up in Brixton, death and loss, and the sink-or-swim feeling of being thrown in at the deep end. The EP also features poet and artist Rohan Ayinde and award winning author and former young people’s laureate for London, Caleb Femi.
Fat White Family – What’s That You Say
Fat White Family are back with the most sophisticated, vital and flamboyant creation of their career. The cult south-London band’s resplendent fourth album Forgiveness Is Yours, like everything they’ve done, has pushed them to the limits not only of their creative talent, but of their health, their sanity, their very existence. What’s That You Say resembles a Baxter Dury cut, but its sleazy slink is undeniable, and the squall that it concludes with wrestles it back to feeling like their own.
King Hannah – Davey Says
Liverpool indie rock duo King Hannah have shared their infectious new single Davey Says taken from their forthcoming new record Big Swimmer. “Davey Says is our ode to 90s, American indie garage rock,” the band state. “We wanted this to be a raucous, fuzzy, light-hearted moment in the album, but to still have that feeling of ‘youcandoanything-ness’. The opening line ‘Meet me before the party, I don’t want to walk in alone’ is our attempt at that classic American 90’s imagery, of coming-of-age nostalgia and romance, of late warm summer nights when the future is draped in front of you.” Dynamic & distinctive – we’re loving this one!
Home Counties – Dividing Lines
Eclectic six piece Home Counties drop energetic new single Dividing Lines, the final cut from their album Exactly As It Seems, out tomorrow. “The inspiration for Dividing Lines came from moving back home to the countryside during lockdown and having little to do except walk”, vocalist and guitarist Will Harrison has explained. “From encountering countless ‘no trespass’ signs and barbed wire fences, I became obsessed with the right to roam and land reform.” Fantastic witty lyrics on this synth-laced, dynamic track – love it! Can’t wait to check ’em out at Brighton’s The Great Escape.
Slow Fiction – January
New York quintet Slow Fiction have dropped new single January, the third and final track from upcoming EP Crush, and it aims to highlight an “intimate snapshot of a life and a commentary on human nature”. It’s the month that brings the blues but can also bring excitement for a fresh start. The band’s Julia Vassallo explains: “The reckoning, I guess. Looking back and forward at the same time. Knowing that you just experienced something difficult, and you aren’t out of the woods quite yet, but you can be eventually. Accepting that you’ve been the antagonist in your life at certain points. Anäis Nin said, “A kiss can destroy a philosophy.” A banging track that builds to an explosive crescendo – great stuff!
Molly Payton – Accelerate
New Zealand born, London based singer-songwriter Molly Payton has shared captivating new single Accelerate, from her upcoming debut album. Payton states: “I just wanted to write something fun and not take myself too seriously and Accelerate was the answer to that. It’s a driving, roaring song about setting yourself free and diving headfirst into things without worrying too much about the consequences. I get asked quite often if I’m going in the singer-songwriter direction rather than this heavier band sound, but I think I’ll always have a foot in each camp because playing a song like this live is the most fun a girl could have.” We’re loving this passionate slice of indie-rock.
Bizarrefae – Sad Clown
Enigmatic non-binary artist Bizarrefae is back with the track Sad Clown, a tale of romantic betrayal & the resultant feelings of anger & distrust, which is taken from their new album Revolting – a body of work described by the artist as ‘an anthology of stories that display the spiral into villainy by our faerie antagonist’. With its ethereal ‘other-worldly’ intro, produced by creative collaborator & Hull’s ‘King of Electro’ Endoflevelbaddie, the track Sad Clown sees Bizarrefae lay their deepest emotions out for all to see. They are a champion for under-represented genders & are keen to talk about mental health issues, sexuality, religion & capitalism whenever they get the opportunity and we’re loving this latest passionate slice of alt-pop.
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