Posts Tagged ‘Fika Recordings’

EMMA KUPA – ” It Will Come Easier “

Posted: December 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Following successes fronting Mammoth Penguins and the sorely missed Standard Fare, Emma Kupa releases her first full length solo album “It Will Come Easier” “The hope in the title is important to me – it is something I try to hold onto when things feel difficult”.

It Will Come Easier delves through the trials and tribulations of attempting to navigate the crossroads of your early thirties. Head on and raw, Kupa leads us through her tender reflections on relationship regrets, the torment and pressure to succeed, and the dichotomy of now finding herself inclined to choose logic over impulse – “does her smile light up your heart, or do you just want to get under her shirt?” she asks on Does It Feel New. Her most personal collection of songs to date, they pick up from the intimate family portraits of Kupa’s debut solo EP, Home Cinema:

“The album explores aspects of love, escapism and fidelity, but there’s also a thread about accepting feelings of hopelessness when you don’t quite meet the many pressures of life’s expectations”.

In spite of the harsh directness of its subject matter, It Will Come Easier has an audible freshness and a spring in its step. The optimistic jaunt of Nothing At All defies the futility in being unable to influence a particularly toxic situation. I Keep An Eye out is a follow up to Home Cinema’s Half Sister, written for the eponymous sibling that doesn’t know of Kupa.

Written and recorded over a period of time, Kupa felt she needed to give these 10 tracks some emotional space before making them public. Joined by bandmates from both Mammoth Penguins and Suggested Friends (Mark Boxall and Faith Taylor, respectively), alongside Laura Ankles, Joe Bear, Rory McVicar and Carmela Pietrangelo, the instrumentation is more diverse than in previous Kupa bands. From the sparse, evocative strings of Hey Love and the simple piano backing of unexpected wedding drama in Crying Behind The Marquee, through to the grinding synths of CP Reprise, textural flourishes abound, belying Kupa’s background fronting noisy three-piece indie-pop outfits.

With nods to Dusty Springfield, The Unthanks and The Postal Service, “It Will Come Easier” is a mesmerising journey through early adulthood, poignant and expertly detailed.

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Emma Kupa currently fronts Mammoth Penguins, and The Hayman Kupa Band alongside Darren Hayman. She initially made her name with Standard Fare, who called it a day at the peak of their success in 2013. Kupa’s insightful warmth, eye for lyrical detail and powerful, idiosyncratic voice has made her a firm favourite amongst fans and critics alike.

“It Will Come Easier” is released on 18th September on Fika Recordings

EMMA KUPA – ” It Will Come Easier “

Posted: September 19, 2020 in MUSIC
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Emma Kupa currently fronts Mammoth Penguins, and The Hayman Kupa Band alongside Darren Hayman. She initially made her name with Standard Fare, who called it a day at the peak of their success in 2013. Kupa’s insightful warmth, eye for lyrical detail and powerful, idiosyncratic voice has made her a firm favourite amongst fans and critics alike.

Following successes fronting Mammoth Penguins and the sorely missed Standard Fare, Emma Kupa releases her first full length solo album “It Will Come Easier” on 18th September:
“The hope in the title is important to me – it is something I try to hold onto when things feel difficult”.

It Will Come Easier delves through the trials and tribulations of attempting to navigate the crossroads of your early thirties. Head on and raw, Kupa leads us through her tender reflections on relationship regrets, the torment and pressure to succeed, and the dichotomy of now finding herself inclined to choose logic over impulse – “does her smile light up your heart, or do you just want to get under her shirt?” she asks on Does It Feel New.

Her most personal collection of songs to date, they pick up from the intimate family portraits of Kupa’s debut solo EP, Home Cinema:

“The album explores aspects of love, escapism and fidelity, but there’s also a thread about accepting feelings of hopelessness when you don’t quite meet the many pressures of life’s expectations”.

In spite of the harsh directness of its subject matter, It Will Come Easier has an audible freshness and a spring in its step. The optimistic jaunt of Nothing At All defies the futility in being unable to influence a particularly toxic situation. I Keep An Eye out is a follow up to Home Cinema’s Half Sister, written for the eponymous sibling that doesn’t know of Kupa.

Written and recorded over a period of time, Kupa felt she needed to give these 10 tracks some emotional space before making them public. Joined by bandmates from both Mammoth Penguins and Suggested Friends (Mark Boxall and Faith Taylor, respectively), alongside Laura Ankles, Joe Bear, Rory McVicar and Carmela Pietrangelo, the instrumentation is more diverse than in previous Kupa bands. From the sparse, evocative strings of Hey Love and the simple piano backing of unexpected wedding drama in Crying Behind The Marquee, through to the grinding synths of CP Reprise, textural flourishes abound, belying Kupa’s background fronting noisy three-piece indie-pop outfits.

“It Will Come Easier” is a mesmerising journey through early adulthood, poignant and expertly detailed.

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“It Will Come Easier” is released on 18th September on Fika Recordings (UK/Europe) and Palo Santo (USA).
The album is preceded by a trio of digital singles: Nothing At All (June 5th), Hey Love (July 10th) and Nawlins (August 14th).

Released September 18th, 2020

THE JUST JOANS – ” The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans “

Posted: January 30, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Acerbic yet winsome Scottish indie poppers The Just Joans return with the dazzlingly maudlin The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans, a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future..  The title alludes both to James Hogg’s gothic novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner but also the memories, however vague, of songwriter David Pope, and his increasing awareness of “the onset of middle-aged ennui”.

Thematically, the latter pretty much sums up the theme album’s opener ‘Hey Ho, Let’s Not Go’ with David sounding perfectly justified in wanting to just watch Match of the Day whilst fellow vocalist, his sister Katie, reminds the album’s narrators of the old times and nights out in the battleground of town. If the song’s lyrics are negative and insular, however, that’s a counterpoint to the bold brass that opens the album – a deliberate choice by the band to open up their sound, by roping in multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos and keyboardist Alison Eales (from fellow Glaswegians, Butcher Boy).

Second track ‘Who Does Susan Think She Is?’ is hilariously cynical, focusing on that one friend who suddenly decides to go to art school and turn vegan, whilst ‘Wee Guys (Bobby’s Got A Punctured Lung)’ contemplates acts of violence involving lads on the street.

The album’s middle section contains its most heartfelt tracks, dominated by Katie’s winning vocals. Ranging from ‘Dear Diary, I Died Again Today’ – a lush string-laden ballad, and ‘When Nietzsche Calls’ – a sort of twisted torch song with a growing brass section, to ‘The One I Loathe the Least’, a minor key lilt whose stand-out lyric refers to the population as “subhuman scum”.

So far, so sophisti-pop, but there’s C64 cred here too, with the squelchy synths and guitar wash of ‘My Undying Love For You Is Beginning to Die’, the dating disaster synth-pop of ‘Another Doomed Relationship’, until the album closes with the echoey Visage vocals of ‘Like Yesterday Again’, which sounds like the album sweetly expiring under the weight of its own efforts. There’s also pop-rock in the form of ‘The Older I Get The More I Don’t Know’ and the Ben Folds-y ‘Holiday’, whilst the album still has space for a nostalgically baroque tune in the shape of ‘People I Once Knew’.

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Named for the agony aunt Joan Burnie, and her ‘Just Joan’ column in The Daily Record, it’s appropriate that The Just Joans may not necessarily tap into your best emotions – but they certainly make you feel a lot better about having them. For a band whose lifespan now stretches to four albums, it’s impressive that the cynicism, the bitterness and, most damning of all, the optimism of life as an outsider are still felt as strongly. It may say more about this writer’s age than the album, but there’s something reassuring about knowing you’re not the only one having a tough time and The Just Joans capture that feeling just so.

Released January 10th, 2020

The Just Joans are David Pope, Katie Pope, Chris Elkin, Fraser Ford, Arion Xenos and Jason Sweeney.
All songs written, recorded and produced by The Just Joans.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans is out now via Fika Recordings.

JESSICAS BROTHER – ” Overnight Horror “

Posted: December 9, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Jessica’s Brother first started playing together in October 2016 when Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) asked Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band) to come and play some songs written by Tom Charleston . As Jessica’s Brother  the trio clicked immediately, and just 9 months later recorded the album with Laurie Sherman at The Cube and with Darren Hayman. A few friends joined them in the studio, including Dan Mayfield on violin (Enderby’s Room) and Paul Rains on guitar and slide guitar (Allo Darlin’ / Tigercats).

There are themes of joy, anger, silliness. The characters change, the instruments clamber over each other in a small room. Their shared influences include Silver Jews, Jason Molina, Richard Thompson and Neil Young.

“Jessica’s Brother’s shambling nerdcore is clearly a passion project intended to please only themselves. Good for them. Their pivotal number Polstead Instead, loosely based on the 1976 Jonathan Richman track New England, is a jingling rush that would have headed John Peel’s Festive 50 in another life.”

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Jessica’s Brother deliver a gothic English folk tale filtered through Silver Jews and early Pavement, with Mayfield’s dark violin adding a Bad Seeds-y edge. These are just signposts however, there is no derivative homage here. It all feels right, and, as with all the best bands, they make it sound new. Their songs deliver lazy, laconic vocal melodies with a muscular Neil Young flex in the guitars and just a soupçon of The Band in the arrangements. I want to say the last thing we need is another indie-pop supergroup, but I can’t, because Jessica’s Brother are exactly what we need.

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it’s a stunning combination of gothic-country and 1960’s inspired psych-folk, simultaneously downbeat and expansive. The influence of Jason Molina is clear in the croaked vocal, while the guitar playing has a Neil Young-like virtuosity and there’s even room for some deliciously atmospheric violin flourishes.

WITHERED HAND – ” Ten Years ” EP

Posted: November 9, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Hello! Just a head’s up for a limited edition commemorative EP to mark 10 YEARS?! since the debut Withered Hand album Good News was released.

I hope some of you will find these new treatments of old familiars touching. I marvel at Pete’s Harvey’s string arrangements and it was fun to be reunited with Pete at his studio in Perth where the strings were recorded. I laid down new ten-years-older vocals on four songs and spoke about my attempts at creative and broader recovery.

Here’s the official blurb:

The Springsteen of self-deprecation (!) celebrates the tenth anniversary of his debut long player by re-working four of the album’s finest tunes. They were handed over to Pete Harvey (who was involved in the genesis of the original recordings) to re-arrange, lovely new melancholic string sections were recorded, and Willson re-sang his vocals – effortlessly moving the anti-folk classics towards anti-chamber pop.

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Dan Willson – vocals and guitar
Strings arranged by Pete and performed by the Pumpkinseeds:
Kate Miguda – violin
Liam Liam Lynch – viola
Harriet Davidson & Pete Harvey – cello

Album releases November 25th, 2019

Thanks to Wiaiwya and Fika Recordings for their help in making a vinyl incarnation available. With a limited edition meaning only 300 copies of this Vinyl and 500 CDs will ever exist,

The JUST JOANS – ” The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans “

Posted: October 28, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Acerbic yet winsome Scottish indiepoppers The Just Joans return with the dazzlingly maudlin “The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans”, a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future.

A titular twist on the classic gothic horror novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by compatriot James Hogg, the new album is the follow-up to 2017’s You Might Be Smiling Now… and contains the kind of melodies and mockery that led Uncut to class the band as the point at which “Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.”

At the forefront remain the mischievous lyrics and heartfelt vocals of siblings David and Katie Pope, aided and abetted by Chris Elkin on lead guitar, Fraser Ford on bass guitar and Jason Sweeney on drums. Yet it is the recruitment of multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos and guest appearance of Butcher Boy’s Alison Eales to arrange strings that have helped elevate the band’s music to new heights.

Their progression is most noticeable on lead single “Dear Diary, I Died Again today”, a painfully beautiful admission of everyday anxiety and “When Nietzsche Calls”, the triumphant cry of a spurned lover revelling in the misery of their ex to a backdrop of trumpets and violins. The juxtaposition of the fragility shown in these tracks with the menace of “Wee Guys (Bobby’s Got A Punctured Lung)” – an observation and understanding of the casual violence that once cast a shadow over the band’s hometown – highlights The Just Joans’ ability to seamlessly flip between sensitivity and danger, and sums up why Highway Queens described them as the “perfect Glasgow kiss.”

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations. As David explains: “It’s a collection torn from the pages of the diary I haven’t kept over the past 25 years. There are songs about places and people I vaguely remember, feelings I think that I once may have felt and the onset of middle-aged ennui.”

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Despite entering new territory with the addition of brass and strings, they have nevertheless maintained the DIY ethos that made them darlings of the underground indie-pop scene, with each song on the album recorded and produced by the band in various gloomy bedrooms around Glasgow.

Releases January 10th, 2020

The Just Joans are David Pope, Katie Pope, Chris Elkin, Fraser Ford, Arion Xenos and Jason Sweeney.
All songs written, recorded and produced by The Just Joans.

MAMMOTH PENGUINS – ” There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win “

Posted: April 25, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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For the uninitiated, Mammoth Penguins are a 3-piece indie pop powerhouse, showcasing the songwriting and vocal talents of Emma Kupa (Standard Fare, The Hayman Kupa Band) backed up by the noisiest rhythm section in indie pop.

Their first album, Hide and Seek, was released with the much-loved and sorely missed Fortuna Pop! in 2015. Stand-out tracks ‘Strength In My Legs’ and ‘When I Was Your Age’ were picked up by BBC 6Music and Radio X, and the band played a live session for Marc Riley the following year.

But Mammoth Penguins didn’t want to stop there.  Their follow-up release John Doe in 2017 was an ambitious concept album, exploring the feelings of loss and anger at a man who fakes his own death, only to return years later. It featured contributions from Haiku Salut’s Sophie Barkerwood and Alto 45’s Joe Bear, and expanded well beyond the 3-piece rock‘n’roll template, with washes of strings, synths and samples (field recordings of butter being scraped on toast, photocopiers, and Ramsgate beach helping to fully immerse the listener in the world the band have created) filling out and developing Kupa’s songwriting.

Having had their ‘and now for something completely different’ moment, the band have brought that ambition and expanded palette to the production of this new release. The sound is big, bold and confident—with layers of guitars, backing vocals and keys all adding extra muscle—but maintaining Emma’s candid, heartfelt, confessional style of songwriting, and the jubilant power pop hooks that made the first record so special.

This time around, classic themes of love, loss and conflict are (mostly) given a hopeful and optimistic spin that opposition is neither inevitable nor hopeless. For musical comparisons, think Land of Talk, and Philadelphia bands such as Swearin and Hop Along, but Kupa’s insight into the everyday and her ability to pen such relatable and honest missives means that, often, the best comparison for Mammoth Penguins’ music is with your own past.

http://

“Like a lot of songwriters, my songs are derived from my own personal experiences, thoughts and feelings, long lived or fleeting. The times when people have said my lyrics resonate with them or articulate something specific for them are extremely validating for me and I hope that happens with this album. Arranging the songs with Mark and Tom is a massive buzz and playing them live as a band feels exciting and fantastic. Having Joe and Faith put their mark on the songs was also a massive privilege. When we’re working on a new song it gets to a point where we just want to keep repeatedly playing it over and over. However, making a record can be an extremely slow and drawn out process that requires patience, perseverance and resilience, and because of that we are super excited and proud to be releasing this album.” Emma Kupa, Mammoth Penguins.

Performed by Emma Kupa (vocals and guitar), Mark Boxall (bass and
backing vocals), and Tom Barden (drums and backing vocals).
Additional guitar (including lead on There Is So Much More) by Faith Taylor. Keys and additional sounds by Joe Bear. Cello by Mark Boxall.

Releases April 26th, 2019

MAMMOTH PENGUINS – ” Closure “

Posted: March 22, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Cambridge-based trio Mammoth Penguins are soon to return with their third album, “There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win”. This week the band have announced an array of dates across Spring and early Summer, as well as sharing the video to the record’s second single, “Closure”.

Discussing the inspiration behind the track, front woman Emma Kupa has suggested Closure, “is a song about an interaction, or day, or moment, or occurrence when something shifts and feelings that you may have been carrying around for a while just dissipate”. The track seems to not mourn this passing feeling but celebrate it and cherish the freedom that it brings. Musically, this feeling manifests as probably their heaviest, most dynamic track to date; the moments of shimmering calm never lasting long before a crashing crescendo of rhythmic noise comes roaring into their place. The mighty chorus serves as reminder of the band’s ability to write a scream-your-heart-out refrain; “all the yearning and all the regret, all the sadness just left me”, surely set to soundtrack every storming out of the house moment in indie films for years to come. Plus there is an excellent feather-flying, pillow fighting video courtesy of director Fraser Watson, so what’s not to like really?.

Band Members
Emma, Mark and Tom

There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win is released on 26th April 2019 via Fika Recordings.

MAMMOTH PENGUINS – ” I Wanna “

Posted: February 18, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Following a sold out London show with Swearin’, Cambridge indie pop trio Mammoth Penguins are delighted to announce that they have signed to Fika Recordings and that their third album, “There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win”, will be released on 26th April 2019.

The band are streaming lead single ‘I Wanna’ today, listen and share here:

“‘I Wanna’ is a super simple song about how liking someone can unlock a load of creativity and energy,” comments vocalist Emma Kupa, “and suddenly there are so many possibilities and so much potential, and life becomes way more fun.”

Mammoth Penguins are a 3-piece indie pop powerhouse, showcasing the songwriting and vocal talents of Emma Kupa (Standard Fare, The Hayman Kupa Band) backed up by the noisiest rhythm section in indie pop.

Their first album, Hide and Seek, was released with the much-loved and sorely missed Fortuna Pop! in 2015. But Mammoth Penguins didn’t want to stop there.  Their follow-up release John Doe in 2017 was an ambitious concept album, exploring the feelings of loss and anger at a man who fakes his own death, only to return years later. It featured contributions from Haiku Salut’s Sophie Barkerwood and Alto 45’s Joe Bear, and expanded well beyond the 3-piece rock‘n’roll template, with washes of strings, synths and samples (field recordings of butter being scraped on toast, photocopiers, and Ramsgate beach helping to fully immerse the listener in the world the band have created) filling out and developing Kupa’s songwriting.

Having had their ‘and now for something completely different’ moment, the band have brought that ambition and expanded palette to the production of this new release. The sound is big, bold and confident—with layers of guitars, backing vocals and keys all adding extra muscle—but maintaining Kupa’s candid, heartfelt, confessional style of songwriting, and the jubilant power pop hooks that made the first record so special.

As with many songwriters, Kupa’s songs are derived mostly from her own personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings, be they long-lived or fleeting. “The times when people have said my lyrics resonate with them or articulate something specific for them are extremely validating for me and I hope that happens with this album,” she explains of the new record.

“Arranging the songs with Mark and Tom is a massive buzz and playing them live as a band feels so exciting. Having Joe and Faith put their mark on the album was also a massive privilege. Making a record can be an extremely slow and drawn out process that requires patience, perseverance and resilience, and because of that we are super excited and proud to be releasing this album.”

http://

This time around, classic themes of love, loss and conflict are (mostly) given a hopeful and optimistic spin that opposition is neither inevitable nor hopeless. For musical comparisons, think Land of Talk, and Philadelphia bands such as Swearin and Hop Along, but Kupa’s insight into the everyday and her ability to pen such relatable and honest missives means that, often, the best comparison for Mammoth Penguins’ music is with your own past.

MATH & PHYSICS CLUB – ” Lived Here Before “

Posted: July 16, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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mapc

Math & Physics Club have been known to cover an REM song, I remember them doing an excellent version of Shaking Through from Murmur, so it not surprising to hear them dropping REM references throughout the new album Lived Here Before. Don’t worry, if you are a fan of their subtle understated pop, they haven’t gone all End of the World as We Know it. They have this great ability to subtly incorporate influences without them overpowering their own of delicate pop.

Upon the release of 2018’s Lived Here Before, it’s been five years since the last Math and Physics Club album, but all the hallmarks of their sound remain intact. The required amount of guitar jangle, sweet indie pop melody, tender and true lyrics, and Charles Bert’s wistfully sincere singing are all on display, and the band delivers a few songs that stand with its best work. The gently rumbling “Threadbare,” the warm-hearted “Broadcasting Waves,” and the insistent “All the Mains Are Down” are all first-rate examples of the best kind of indie pop, when the music, words, and voices work together to wrap the listener in the audio equivalent of a long, strong hug. The record is more than just a few great songs, though. Like on their last album, Our Hearts Beat Out Loud, the band continues to expand its sound, becoming more muscular than ever and stretching the songwriting a bit.

Tracks like the circular “The Pull of the Tides” and the almost C&W “Take a Number” wouldn’t have appeared on an early MAPC album, and Lived Here Before is enriched by their presence. The rest of the record has a fuller, more dynamic sound than the previous album too, and when the songs rock, like on “Past and in Between,” they have some real punch. The ballads like “Dear Madeline” also have a real echoing beauty that the band has previously hinted at but can fully realize now. Credit the production by indie rock veteran Chris Hanzsek for the improved sound, the band for the expansive arrangements, and Bert for coming up with MAPC’s strongest set of songs to date. Put it all together and it’s the best record the band has done and some really fine indie pop that shows the long-running style has some life left in it yet.

Band Members
Charles Bert (vocals, rhythm guitar)
Ethan Jones (bass, keys, etc)
James Werle (guitar)
Kevin Emerson (drums)

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