Friday’s Finest is back on ICM once again. The weekly feature alongside It’s All Indie, Turtle Tempo and Nexus Music Blog, highlights the latest tracks we’ve been digging albeit old or new. This week features A.R.T, Turið, Jack Conman and Fading Blonde (pictured above). Find out more below…
Turtle Tempo: A.R.T – ‘Streetside’
A.R.T are a collective from London with something very special about them, since forming in 2018 they have put out music with raw energy, a highly authentic and charismatic sound ‘Streetside’ is the first single taken from their new EP titled Lewis Lambrini.
It’s All Indie: Turið – ‘What’s Left Of Me’
Hailing from The Faeroe Islands in the North Atlantic, Turið is now based in Copenhagen and has recently released her captivating and cinematic new single ‘What’s Left Of Me’.
The new track is Turið’s fifth song of 2020 and is yet another that is going to capture her fan’s attention with a dreamy intro, almost straight out from The XX’s back catalogue giving you something to chew on and get hypnotised with from the first click of the play button.
Speaking about the latest release she says: “When I wrote the song, I was in a very bad place mentally and it felt like I just hit rock bottom.
“Being in a place where I constantly was running away from myself and couldn’t control when I was drinking, I always tried to escape feeling those feelings. I remember staring at myself in the mirror, just staring, and I couldn’t recognize myself anymore and knew that I had to change my bad habits in order to feel better.”
Her vocals are so soothing when they come in taking you into a dreamland, with this song sounding like it would be perfect to listen to set to a backdrop of a starry sky. It’s very stripped back as you can hear all of the instrumentation very clearly, mainly thanks to the crisp production but also how Turið lays out her music with her emotive vocals laid upon them.
It’s a great example of some amazing cinematic indie-pop, with plenty of ethereal tones mixed in with slick instrumentation you’re taken away for four minutes and treated to something truly sensational.
Nexus Music Blog: Jack Conman – ‘Come Back in the Room’
Although Jack Conman is only in his early twenties, the young man from Hull is already building a strong reputation as an indie-rock singer-songwriter.
After the release of his debut EP ‘Heddison’ in 2017 with the popular ‘Greatly Hasty’ and ‘Oxytocin’, Jack Conman took time out to define his songwriting skills. As we emerge from COVID lockdown, Jack released the self-recorded and self-produced ballad ‘Come Back In The Room’.
Ironically, the track was written in one hour and recorded over two days in his ex-girlfriend’s bedroom. I guess there’s no better place to compose a song about heartbreak than in the heart-breakers house.
While Jack skillfully plucks at his guitar strings, it is his vocals that provide a melancholic sense of heart-piercing desperation.
ICM: Fading Blonde – ‘Walking Distance’
Nottingham trio Fading Blonde share cathartic single ‘Walking Distance’ ask they mark a new era for the band.
Comprised of Evan Jones – Rhythm guitar/vocals, Owen Downs – Lead guitar and Charlie Harris – Bass, the outfit have grown sonically and thematically as the indie rockers want to become the talking point in the city; and beyond.
‘Walking Distance’ is a song about coping with physical distance from a loved one, it’s emotive and anthemic in equal measure.
It’s a song to belted out at the top of your lungs, to be sung at full voice at festivals next year – everything that the band and their fans have missed out on this summer.
Speaking about the track, lead singer Evan said: “With ‘Walking Distance’ we wanted to create a song which people could shout back the words to us at gigs next year – that’s the feeling we’re missing and we wanted to re-create this in the recording.
“The song is about being with someone every day of your life and then suddenly having to deal with emotional and physical distance.
“We poured all this emotion back into the song and hopefully that shines through the finished product.”
The trio take huge inspiration from the likes of SWMRS, Pinegrove and Paramore – and this really resonates in the alt-rock tones of ‘Walking Distance’.
They’ve also collaborated with top Colombian designer Cristian Alarcón D on the artwork, creating a really clear aesthetic and sense of direction.
