After a journey into stripped back alt-folk territory on last year’s Many White Horses, Firestations' fifth album International Dust marks a return to the eclectic London art-pop ensemble's full five-piece band format. Out now on limited-edition vinyl and CD and via streaming platforms, it represents another significant step up for a consistently creative band who have re-invented themselves yet again, with an album that feels bigger and fuller at surface level than ever before, yet with deeper, even more thought-provoking foundations lurking beneath. To mark its release, Firestations will tour the UK this autumn – scroll all the way down for a full list of dates below. Firestations are Mike Cranny (vocals, guitar), Laura Copsey (vocals, keys, flute, flugelhorn), Martin Thompson (guitar, synths, piano), Tom Hargreaves (drums, percussion) and Neil Walsh (bass, viola, vocals). Their music spans genres from shoegaze to alt-pop and harmony-driven psychedelia. The nine tracks on International Dust encompass an eclectic and intuitive mix of dream-pop, alt-country and hypnotic cyclical numbers, shaped collectively by the band as a unit through various twists and turns at rehearsal sessions during 2024. The album was recorded live at Otterhead Studios in early 2025 (engineered by Ellis Powell-Bevan and Oscar Ball), before being mixed and mastered by James Trevascus (Invada, Portishead, PJ Harvey, Young Fathers). This longer gestation period, combined with having someone outside the band on production duties, “has definitely made for a more expansive and immersive listen,” reckons Mike, “with room for everything to find its place. The musical arrangements this time round also contribute to the immersive feel by exploring the depth of musicianship in the band.”
It's title is a reference to the inevitable passing of time and the absurdity of human constructs, created as if permanence was a thing, combined with a questioning of boundaries both imagined and real (as well as being a reference to Silver Jew’s ‘American Water’: try new INTERNATIONAL DUST™!). The album artwork was inspired by a bloated, overgrown maze Laura saw on Reddit several years ago. “The image stayed with me and felt symbolically relevant somehow to the album’s underlying political themes,” she says. The cover was created using Play-Doh, a scanner, and a till receipt printer, with icons made by the band working together in Laura’s studio. “We had a great time creating these songs together,” says Mike. “When I listen, I’m transported back to the initial rehearsal sessions, perhaps after a couple of beers, when everyone is in, or at least approaching, the same zone. Playing the outro to ‘Hidden Face’ for fifteen minutes for example, getting totally lost in it, or playing ‘Sleeping on the Sidelines’ at quiet, shivery volumes. I feel like quite a lot of that ‘band in a room’ spirit has made it into the finished songs. We’ve all been doing this music thing for some time now, but we all still truly love it, and we want to give something emotionally engaging and something that adds in some small way to the creative conversation that keeps our world turning.” International Dust track listing:
1. Hidden Face
2. An Apparition
3. International Dust
4. Sleeping on the Sidelines
5. Given Power
6. Movement of a Wheel
7. Beginners
8. This Imaginary Line
9. All the Angles
Firestations live:
Fri, Oct 16 @ Dash The Henge Records, LONDON
[release day in-store; International Dust played in full]
Sat, Oct 31 @ Eagle Inn, SALFORD
Sun, Nov 1 @ The Engine Room, NORTH SHIELDS
Tue, Nov 3 @ The Lanes, BRISTOL
Wed, Nov 4 @ The Library Pub, OXFORD
Thu, Nov 5 @ The Holloway, NORWICH
Fri, Nov 6 @ The Waiting Room, LONDON (w/ Dominie Hooper)
Thu, Nov 12 @ Where Else?, MARGATE
Fri, Nov 27 @ Alphabet, BRIGHTON (w/ Jetstream Pony) linktr.ee/firestations |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment