It’s the beginning of May, a month sandwiched between two long bank holiday weekends. Temperatures are rising; the sun is set to shine again; the glimmer of hope that we’ll soon be able to hug our friends is getting brighter; and to top it all off, Fickle Friends are releasing new music.
Accompanying the transition from winter to spring and appropriately titled Weird Years (Season 2), Fickle Friends‘ new EP follows Season One (released in January), and forms the second part of a project that is expected to be extended into a full album later this year.
Complete with the signature Fickle Friends upbeat chorus, opening track ‘Not In The Mood’ is an anthem of self-appreciation – a rejection of an unreliable ex – and exudes confidence and independence through its bold indie guitar riffs and powerful echoed vocals. In contrast, ‘Turns Me Bad’ is an electro-pop ballad dedicated to a newfound love, the isolated chorus vocals and stripped back electric guitar strums conveying the excitement and intensity of a fledgling romance.
Most recent single ‘Cosmic Coming of Age’, flecked with celestial synth, layered vocals and conflicting messages, narrates the ups and downs of a quarter life crisis. Described by vocalist Natti Shiner as portraying “that transitional period in life where everything seems to fall apart…one moment you have everything together, the next it feels like you have to start life from scratch”, the track has a slightly disjointed feel, whilst still managing to retain infectious beats and catchy lyrics.
Final track, ‘I Won’t Hurt Myself’ opens with an unusually vulnerable sounding piano, before bursting into a brash chorus full of echoed vocals and heavy electric guitar, the lyrics “I won’t hurt myself the way you want me to” reflecting a courageous exertion of power over a figure of negative influence.
Once again, Fickle Friends have brought home the goods and provided fans with a much-needed burst of musical energy to fuel us through until summertime. Narrating a whole host of emotions from self-empowerment to mental struggles, the EP serves to prove that if anyone can take a hard time and turn it into something that you can dance to, Fickle Friends can.
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Weird Years Season Two is released this Friday, MAy 7th, and is available to pre-order now
