Holding a mirror up and looking hard at yourself is one thing but casting that reflection via sonic eruptions of sound and candid, gut splitting lyrics is an other thing entirely. Brighton (UK) based indie rock, post punk, emo tinged, math rock-ian quartet I Feel Fine have done just that on their debut album "The Cold In Every Shelter" dropping on September 10th (2021). "SelfSame"is one of those reflections. It is a lush bit of work with a beautiful dense bottom, and pearly rhythms picked on electric guitars. That prettiness offsets chunky guitars and ballsy textured bass and drum work. The downbeats are many as are the big eruptions highlighted by gang vocals. Those gang vocal feel like celebration rock tones even though the lyrics veer maybe in dark emotional places.
The author of those revelatory lyrics is guitarist, vocalist Nathan Tompkins and I wonder if those gang vox make it easier to reveal interior thoughts. Of the track he shares:
"One of the main recurring themes on the album is me identifying my flaws, in the hope that by challenging them I’d be some steps quicker to dispelling their traces altogether. Writing the lyrics to this one was a real watershed moment in that journey personally, because it’s where it really occurred to me that these problems are not so new as they appear. Sure, they may enter under alternating circumstances or come dressed differently, but the shortfalls I battle today are the very same I’ve been batting off for just shy of two decades at this point. So, this is me exploring that."
The blend of post punk, emo and math rock affections is the right blend here. Math rock, in general, walks on a tight rope of delicate musicality and pummeling the listener with sound and I Feel Fine accomplishes this balance so incredibly well here. Sometimes I find too much going on within this genre, too much addition when things need to be subtracted. but not here, everything feels as it should be (to me). Complexity and beautiful musical melodies coming together as one.
Accompanying the song is a trippy, crazy official video directed and animated by Corentin "Corenchien" Cuvelier. Amazing. It is [composed from pictures taken by the band and friends along with stock footage, all collaged and animated by Corenchien. “The concept behind it was to take the viewer on a visual journey through weird and wonderful places and abstract landscapes, and come back right where we started, creating parallels between the lyrics and the video,” explains drummer Antoine. “The piece has a lot of 'infinite tunnels', also representing the desire to move forward in life but getting stuck in one place.”]
-Robb Donker Curtius
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Having exploded onto the alt-rock scene in 2018 with their rousing blend of emo, punk and math, Brighton’s I Feel Fine are ready to unleash their stunning debut album. ‘The Cold in Every Shelter’ is a beautifully honest and heart-swelling set that displays an incredible knack for writing intricate, technically-minded rock music, but delivered with super-strength hooks and the quartet’s distinctively warming gang-vocal delivery.
Building on the strong foundations set by their debut EP, I Feel Fine continue to deliver the nostalgically influenced alt-rock sound they tastefully pay homage to (think Crash of Rhinos, The Appleseed Cast, Algernon Cadwallader) while looking towards new and fresh textures, adding post-rock dynamics, subtle orchestral swirls and some alt-country inflections. Tying this together with super tight and muscular performances, there is no denying the sky-scraping ambition that this record exudes, whilst retaining the high energy and ultimately joyful euphoria of their live shows.
Leading the record’s sonic journey are these grandiose, heart-on-sleeve emo-punk melodies that are backed up by the painstaking honesty of guitarist Nathan Tompkins’ lyrics. But it’s how Nathan shares his vulnerabilities with the rest of his band mates to sing in unison that gives I Feel Fine this overwhelming sense of unity and brotherhood. Often harmonizing and sometimes screamed, there is so much catharsis bubbling within these songs as we see the quartet morph together as one unit.
The album is an inward study of the self, working through personal insecurities and worries of missed opportunities, as well as a general feeling of being out of sync with the rest of the world. However, there is a silver lining here in that this is not a necessarily unique complex and, in fact, one that many of us look to overcome. It’s with this notion that I Feel Fine find the strength to sing together to unburden themselves.
The chemistry the quartet share is electric and gallantly reaches conclusions of hope and optimism. Wistful, self-aware and incredibly relatable, I Feel Fine want to open up a dialogue between themselves and the listener, and it’s this level of mindfulness that is refreshing to see and comforting to hear.
Building a reputation within the DIY community after having toured several times around the UK and Europe, working hard is something I Feel Fine have never struggled to do. This is a band that don’t sit still and who instead want to step out and get everyone singing together with them.
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