Fire Talk 2020 in Singles & EPs
We’re looking back at our 2020 and although it was exceptionally wild we managed to release an amazing spread of loosies (singles & EPs). Highlights below and stream them all in our New Singles Playlist!
Monteagle is the solo moniker of Brooklyn based (Tennessee native) singer songwriter and composer Justin Giles Wilcox. Known primarily for scoring the critically acclaimed short Documentary Twins Days for the New Yorker and for his production and songwriting for the ambient folk duo Nassau, Monteagle sees Wilcox diving further into the uncharted territory of southern influenced experimental psych folk. “A Colorful Moth” a new EP from Wilcox is steeped in vivid imagery or as Paste Magazine describes “tremulous, bare-souled vocals, which are as haunted and alluring as the caves that riddle the rocky hills of the band’s hometown.”
Justin tells the tale of “A Colorful Moth” better than anyone could...
“A while back I hit a little bit of a rough patch. I had just wrapped up a very emotionally draining project, My freelance work was drying up, My mental health was at an all time low, all this amongst some tumultuous personal issues. In the midst of all of the chaos I took a walk, and ended up sitting at a park right outside of my apt in Brooklyn. While I was just sort of staring blankly, a Butterfly flew up and landed next to me on a bench. Without even blinking I looked at it and thought to myself, “This fucking butterfly, there’s no real beauty in it, it’s just a colorful moth”. I kind of lost it. It’s like my mind became clear. I started-laugh crying and realized how casually destructive I was being and accepted that my situation was mainly my own doing. Afterwards, I felt this huge sense of relief and I immediately started writing these songs.”
This EP is unique in that it was written and recorded sequentially. As in each musical idea begot the next. If you listen there are little pieces of the previous song in the next idea. The lyrics are a mish-mash, a direct stream of consciousness, and recollection of various hallucinogenic trips Justin had been on. There’s something soothing in the way that sound and words dance around each other in a surreal exploration of mortality in relation to reality.
”A Colorful Moth” is a sibling component to an upcoming full length scheduled for early 2021.
The idea behind reimagining of "Lincoln" with legendary vocalist Flowdan was to create something unexpected, exciting & genre confounding. Although Lunch Money Life have the reputation as one of the most explosive new live bands in London recent events have given them time in studio to push the boundaries. The Lincoln VIP draws on the original's atmospheric sound-palate to create a sparse left field grime anthem lending a fresh dystopian viewpoint for the stand out 'Immersion Chamber' track.
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EP2 is the second EP from Cindygod the new project from former Gauntlet Hair members Andy Rauworth and Craig Nice out July 10th 2020 on Fire Talk. Stereogum noted 2018’s EP1 filled with “new wave shimmers and hooks… a sort of ramshackle and scrappy charm.” The new EP doubles down on the hollowed-out saccharine sound of Rauworth’s recent work, while retaining glitchy agitated electronics that pierce together the best of dream pop, post-punk and indie nostalgia. Fans of Gauntlet Hair rejoice! Cindygod is an honest creative extension of some of those original ideas, a little darker & sinister around the edges.
Loraine James. On the heels of her Hyperdub-released EP ‘Nothing’, which received praise from outlets such as Loud & Quiet , Resident Advisor, as well as prior cosigns from Pitchfork, the Quietus, Fact Magazine and more. Loraine’s moody rework perfectly complements Lunch Money Life’s “bizarrely brilliant soundscapes” (DIY), a glitchy, elongated take on the band’s already otherworldly musical template. An essential addition to a record already perfectly soundtracking these end of times. "Immersion Chamber" will see a North American release this Friday October 30th.
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Intentionally raw production from Fair combined with a heady interest in the more macabre elements of literature and film (the band cites the work of filmmakers and writers such as Gaspar Noe, Leos Caraz and Irvine Welsh as inspiration) come together to present a vision that skews the lines between post punk and the rave. True to the grit of Northern England, Caulfield’s vocals in her native French contribute an immersive layer of performance art and poetry that bring the spirit of the avant garde to life. Slipping in and out of the abrasive qualities of noise, industrial and techno, their music recalls essential live acts such as Giant Swan and Minimal Violence as well as the unconventional guitar work of Girl Band and Housewives.
With debut single for Fire Talk “Nike of Samothrace,” Caulfield draws on her insistent vocal execution to deliver an experience that feels similarly compelling and cathartic, complemented by razor-sharp, intensive production from Fair and Stewart’s progressive drumming.
"We wanted Nike to be like a blunt instrument, both lyrically and musically. It's purely brute force, gouging away with all dials turned up full, including the gutteral bass line, which was inspired by Thomas Bangalter's score for Irreversible and Hans Zimmer's score for Blade Runner 2049. We're very much driven by rhythm and movement and also wanted to experiment with a Liquid Liquid style percussive breakdown, we love when genres and dynamics are smashed together in an untidy way... we love to butcher things."
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Accessory (Jason Balla from Dehd / Earring) & Bnny have a new track entitled “Together” 🎶🌼 All proceeds benefit the greater Chicago Food Depository.
I’m bored. we're all bored. we wrote and recorded a song during this boring time. Here is exactly what it sounds like as a waveform. It's about falling in love and not knowing exactly how to say it yet. This concept of shared love-'you say you love me but what does that mean?' It's like...does love mean the same thing to both of us? Can it ever entirely mean the same thing, being different people who experience life so differently? Maybe that's why they invented the 5 love languages, to reconcile with these little differences in how we give and take and feel love? Maybe this expression that you're listening to now is as close to an understanding of love as anything else. Everything on this track is the first take, meaning we only recorded each part once. It was home recorded, right after SXSW was called off by the covid. It was meant to be a demo and then we were like...actually this sounds more genuine than it would if we just sat in a studio and hacked away at different takes, trying to make it perfect. The result is organic and cage free, but may contain soy and tree nuts.
A new track from Jason Balla (Dehd, Earring).
Jason Says…
"It's about finding new eyes. Seeing the old and everyday that has become the background of my life with a fresh sense of wonder. Years ago, I went to Berlin, crashed on a friend's floor and walked and walked. Even through the cold faced grey of Berlin winter, the city felt so full of life and it all felt so new to me. There are moments where I have these eyes again in the most surprising of places: an old neighborhood I used to live in, a friend's face, the sunset through the McDonald's golden arches out my bedroom window. And they all remind me that the world can be beautiful and good."
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