New York – U.K. band Fickle Friends – whom some say is one of the hardest working bands in the indie world right now, having played 31 music festivals in 2015 - has a new music video featuring the band’s lush ‘80s-inspired indie-pop. The Brighton based five-piece has been killing it, especially considering the band only recently picked up a manager and signed with a label. Earlier this year, the DIY or die band signed with Polydor, and this summer Fickle Friends will begin work on its debut studio album with producer Mike Crossey (The 1975, Wolf Alice, and Foals).
Fickle Friends is comprised of Natti Shiner (vocals/synth), Chris Hall (guitar), Jack Wilson (synths), Harry Herrington (bass), and Sam Morris (drums). The band formed in Brighton, in 2013, after Natti and Sam moved to the seaside town, having studied at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in Liverpool. They soon met Jack, after moving to Brighton to finish their studies, while Chris joined the band after meeting Natti on the open-mic scene. Jack brought in his old school friend Harry to complete the quintet. According to Natti, “It happened so naturally, it was an organic thing,” and though they had all played in other bands before hand, “they were just for fun but this very, very quickly became a full time, serious thing.”
Part of that was thanks to the buzz around the band’s internet darling of a track, “Swim,” which was actually the first song the band ever wrote together. After they casually threw it up online, “it went mental,” explains Sam. “Swim” hit Number One on the Hype Machine and became the most blogged about song by an unsigned act that year. Now a couple of years down the line, a newly re-produced “Swim” has been unleashed on the world. The band told Noisey: ”It’s crazy to think we threw this song online two years ago, and for it to have had such a warm and overwhelming reception (particularly as our first offering as a band). Feels like we’ve come full circle, and it’s such a natural way to reintroduce ourselves now that we’re a little older (and wiser?) and musically developed. For those that don’t know, ‘Swim’ is about feeling like you’re drowning in your partner’s emotional baggage… and remembering when things were a little more simple. I have a tendency to get over nostalgic and ‘Swim’ is exactly that. The video is kind of a metaphorical reflection of the complexity of relationships.”
The 2016 official release of ”SWIM,” which was co-produced by Charlie Hugall (Florence and The Machine, The Maccabees), brings Fickle Friends full circle, with added confidence and clarity, having toured extensively and maturing as a band.
”Swim” is available for purchase on iTunes. Follow Fickle Friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Photo credit: Dan Wilton
