Alternative pop energisers Fickle Friends kick-off 2021 with a high as they share their new EP Weird Years (Season 1).
Since finishing off last year with their single ‘MIllions’ and subsequent airplay from Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, the band were discovered by a new wave of fans as their long-awaited EP.
With this release, Fickle Friends also dropped a music video for track four, ‘IRL’. The song demands your full attention with the kind of euphoric, escapist alt-pop energy that offers an antidote to the January gloom.
As vocalist Natti Shiner explains, it was inspired by her friends who have discovered that lockdown has made app-based dating more uncertain than ever.
“Dating in today’s world means a lot of screen time. How are you supposed to know if you have chemistry until you meet them in real life? Are you putting too much time into something virtual that might turn out to be nothing in reality?”
The video alongside this finds all four members of the band relishing being together again, in a lockdown free time, as they channel the frustrations of the year into an exuberant performance.
Shiner added: “‘IRL’ has such a great energy so we knew we wanted to create a performance video.
“It feels like we are living in a virtual reality right now and we kinda wanted to mirror that idea with the illustrated parts of the set.
“Our bedrooms have become a safe haven in this time, a place to be creative and a space to reflect.
“We have missed playing music with each other so much it felt pretty special to be reunited and do that in a (fake) bedroom, surrounded by the most awesome team of creative minds.”
Also featuring is the feel-good anthem ‘What A Time’, the nostalgic, synth-driven ’92’ and ‘Million;’ an uplifting diversion rush of positivity.
The final track on the EP is the soothing, cinematic ‘Finish Line’, a conversational take on mental health which admits that there are no easy solutions, but time can change everything.
‘Weird Years (Season 1)’ represents a bold evolution in Fickle Friends’ sound and is the product of their new-found creative independence. Originally meant to be an album follow-up to 2018’s You Are Someone Else, the band decided to release it in two staged due to being unable to tour.
This new chapter in their story sees the band operating as a cottage industry, keeping all of their creative pursuits in-house. They’re also encouraging fans and the wider community to cast new light on their songs with a series of ‘Weird Years’ art collaborations, which are hosted on their website.
‘Weird Years (Season 1)’ is available here. There will also be a limited number available on 12 inch white vinyl available from January 29th and exclusive t-shirts here.
