Fickle Friends – Are We Gonna Be Alright?
The Brighton band’s second LP is a retro rewind to a party you won’t want to forget
Continuing their brand of dance-worthy, 80s-influenced indie-pop, Fickle Friends return with a pure party of a record. 'Isn't it nice to just live in the moment?' vocalist Natassja Shiner fittingly asks on fizzing single IRL. Like all good parties, there's an overwhelming buzz of feeling alive that's reflected sonically, jumping from one hook-laced chorus to another, with lyrics like honest drunken confessions and whole-hearted discussions about life, love and every other struggle in between.
Yeah Yeah Yeah vents frustration at existing with a lack of purpose; Pretty Great is a pretty great jam that bops along to the story of kissing someone at a party and being too wasted to remember their name, while Glow is a buoyant thank you note to the person giving Shiner back her shine. Hell, they even know how to clear the room with the simmering down closer that hits like the brick wall of 'time to go home' sobriety at 4am.
Ironically, for an album called Are We Gonna Be Alright?, the record feels far more like a soundtrack for forgetting such big questions, and instead, favours just letting it all go to some seriously sugary pop for a little while.
Listen to: Pretty Great, Glow, IRL