The marvelous universe of Los Campesinos!
With their twentieth anniversary on the horizon, Los Campesinos! tell Best Fit how the lore of the UK’s most enduring emo collective has only deepened with the creation of their first new record in over seven years.
All Hell, released this week, is the sound of a band unified and liberated, the close bond between singer Gareth Paisey and guitarist Tom Bromley allowing them to explore and push boundaries with confidence. As sonically and lyrically weighted as it is, it holds the euphoria of a group of friends indulging in creative camaraderie.
So, what made them start writing again? “We ran out of things to reissue,” jokes Bromley. “We never planned to stop or take a break, and I don't think anything triggered us wanting to suddenly release a new record."
"Personally, there was a period of time where it was like, what the fuck am I meant to write about?" adds Paisey. "Who cares what I think or what I have to say? I was hyper-aware that I am a white cisgender straight male, who we hear far too much from, and it's like, how can I say anything that is worthwhile?"
Paisey’s lyrics mark an interesting dichotomy; his words able to resonate widely because of how intimately personal they can feel. Perhaps it’s an influence from his enduring love of The Beautiful South, but he shines a light on the most mundane minutiae of life, making it feel impactful and unifying: “I think there are so many great bands that trade in more general sentiment and ideas, and that's great, but I'm not able to do that. I go the other direction and go as detailed and as personal as I can. I think that's why a lot of people connect with the lyrics,” he says. “When I'm writing, I'm continuing to build that world and there are constant references back to other songs and in the future I'm sure there will be songs that reference things from this album. I kind of imagine it in this world which is growing outwards but also growing upwards at the same time.”
All Hell is out today. Read the full feature by Jen Long now over on Best Fit.
25 years of Rainer Maria’s Look Now Look Again
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rainer Maria’s quietly revolutionary second album Look Now Look Again, an emo masterclass in nine tracks (fun fact: each of their albums has exactly nine). First taking to the stage in 1995, Rainer Maria stayed the course until 2006, outlasting many of their contemporaries as the genre underwent successive deaths, rebirths and coup d’états. Along the way, they put out five exceptional albums, each of which strayed a little further from their tumultuous, overcast debut and towards a more presentable indie rock sound akin to later-era Sleater-Kinney. After a long hiatus, the band reformed and released their sixth album, S/T, in 2017.
Whether they intended to or not, Rainer Maria paved the way for the more equitable scene we enjoy today – a “scene,” in the loose, non-localised sense of the word, ruled by the likes of Hayley Williams and populated by women: Kicksie, Pool Kids, SUDS, and Home Is Where to name just a few. The singer of the latter band, Brandon MacDonald, is transgender, and incidentally so is Kaia Fischer, the guitarist of Rainer Maria. With their work, Rainer Maria have helped to blast open the doors of emo, welcoming into a male-dominated space not just women but also trans people, queer people, non-white people, and many more. “The scene” isn’t perfect but it’s moving in the right direction, and though it would be disingenuous to credit this progress to Rainer Maria alone, it is hard to overstate how important they were.
Look Now Look Again is, in many ways, an essential part of that legacy. The record sounds like the process of expunging long-repressed trauma and then basking in after-cry clarity. “I absolutely remember trying to write songs that had that release,” lead singer and bassist De Marrais tells Best Fit. “That’s what we were trying to get on tape.”
As De Marrais explains, “[Look Now is] the record where I started to feel like I was back in my own body. With the first record, I had been kind of detached and processing some previous hurts and traumas, so this record was coming back into that sense of self and fullness, and trying to experiment with getting that into songs with words and also performance.”
Gracie Gray is on the rise
Following on the heels of two successful acoustic lo-fi projects, singer/songwriter Gracie Gray is gearing up to release Magnets, her third LP. Born in L.A. and now residing in the quiet of the mountains in upstate New York, Gray is in her element on Magnet, offering affecting reflection on human nature and the bittersweet emotional fluctuations that come from connecting with yourself and others.
Indeed, Gray’s records sound like secrets whispered alone in the comfort of one’s own bedroom. This quality is by no means accidental. As a child, Gray’s parents were deeply Christian, and she was often advised to steer away from secular music. It wasn’t until her early teens that Gray discovered music that would truly shape her own tastes and sensibilities.
Her older sister, who she shared a bedroom with, had an admirer at the church the siblings attended. This harmless infatuation manifested itself in the admirer burning Gray’s sister lots of CDs and writing little notes to accompany them. The CDs sat on their shared dresser, untouched for a long time, until Gray decided to take an interest. “That was my introduction to Elliott Smith’s Either Or, and Nick Drake’s Pink Moon,” she remembers. “He also made her a mixtape that had Cat Power, Sunny Day Real Estate, and My Bloody Valentine on, and The Garden State soundtrack. It was all about these CDs for me. They were constantly on repeat.”
Gray would absorb these sounds through her headphones, spending hours in her bedroom enjoying the company of these eclectic songwriters. This intimate setting, her intentional listening and her ability to feel at ease in solitude have shaped the way that Gray writes today and informed her angle as a “bedroom producer.” On Magnet, this pure, unfiltered release of emotion shines through, a spirit she has sought to both protect and capture in this body of work.
Kate Crudgington
Three things to get excited about this week
The comeback: Primal Scream have announced Come Ahead, their first album in eight years. The band have also released “Love Insurrection”, the effortlessly cool lead single, to promote the project.
The documentary: In perhaps one of the entertainment world’s most visionary projects to date, Brian Eno has released Eno, a first-of-its-kind “generative” documentary. Directed by Gary Hustwit, the movie is created in real time from any combination of 500 hours of film shot on the legendary musician. No two viewings of the film are the same.
The superfans: The V&A has selected four Taylor Swift experts, chosen from more than 1,000 applicants, to advise on a new exhibition showing objects from the musician’s personal archive. They join other V&A superfans recently appointed, advising on everything from Pokémon cards to Gorpcore and Lego.
Something Old, Something New
Every week, one of our writers or editors share their recommendations of two records they love - one from the past, one from the present. This week, Jamie Bains reflects on Janis Ian’s Between The Lines (1975) and St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming (2024).
I came across Janis Ian while lazily flicking through channels one late evening in 2022. A 1976 episode of The Old Grey Whistle Test was showing on BBC Four, simply entitled ‘Janis Ian’. I was greeted with a smile that was wide and gentle, at total ease with the gaze of a studio audience upon her. This was to be her final song of the show.
Detailing drab domesticity and existential decay, the acoustic rendition of “Tea and Sympathy” starkly portrayed the dying light of the American Dream and the inevitable fate for those misled by its myth: retreatism. Taken from her seminal 1975 album Between The Lines, the song is an outlier on a record that embarks on tender ventures into the soul, featuring topics of teenage isolation, long-lost romances and youthful reminiscence.
The album reached #1 in America and re-catapulted Ian into stardom (aged 15, she bagged a major hit with “Society’s Child”, an anti-racist song which saw her banned from many Southern US states) and dodged any form of abrasion. Violins and cellos give an esteemed touch to an album that, above all else, showcases the authority of Ian’s creativity and her aptitude as the album’s chief arranger.
Start with the daydreamy nostalgia of “Watercolours”. Let Ian’s call of “Come on, be near to me / Come be my fantasy” wash over you gently, and embrace the welcome of her words. Between The Lines will be yours.
Within my current residence in sunny Leeds, the turn of the year marked the appearance of the same poster adorning the student-heavy streets. In front of a blackened background sat a stony-faced, robotically posed St. Vincent (Annie Clark) with a simultaneously penetrating yet hollow stare to the camera.
The album’s name, All Born Screaming, stood in stark contradiction to the absence of Clark’s expression. Or perhaps suggested that whatever chaos sparked the creation of the album was something sinister, accompanied by a look that tried best to hide the fear of what the eyes have witnessed. A warning.
Released almost exactly 50 years after Diamond Dogs, it’s fair to say that All Born Screaming’s vision of a world of disorder took a fair amount of inspiration from the Bowie playbook. But, with this being Clark’s first entirely self-produced project, the identity is distinct.
The swaggering “Big Time Nothing” exudes an impenitent power, firm in its belief that such an uncomfortable electronic riff can lead an apocalyptic dance-macabre. Meanwhile, opener “Hell is Near” sees Clark’s layered vocals create an ethereal majesty that, you feel, not many artists could dream of finding.
All Born Screaming doesn’t want you to tap your feet to the rhythm, but rather demands you march to its anarchy. One moment you’re lost in the lament of an unconnected world, the next you’re moving to a mutant-reggae beat of interplanetary exploration. With full control over proceedings, it is refreshing to see Clark’s first instinct is to rip it up, break it down. Destroy.
Listen to the week in new music by following our Discovery playlist
Dropping at midnight every Thursday, follow our playlist for a taste of the best new music from the most exciting breaking artists – 20 new tracks, top-loaded from the last five days in music and on repeat in the Best Fit office right now.
Leading the selection this week are new tracks from Teo Planell, SHHE, Maggie Antone, Kitty Fitz and coverstar jasmine.4.t.