The Friday Dispatch
Lauren Mayberry, Caleb Kunle, F.G.S., two blinks i love you and more
Lauren Mayberry and the art of fiction
As the frontwoman of Chvrches, Lauren Mayberry, was shot into the spotlight but with her debut solo record, she’s tackling her past from a fresh perspective, she tells Best Fit for this week’s cover feature.
The purposefully titled Vicious Creature – released today – is an album whose inception runs through Mayberry's past decade in music. From the lightning ascent of Chvrches, the struggle of adjusting to a new life while handling a torrent of online abuse, homesickness and a need to prove herself within the band, themes across the record take cues from her past while she stays rooted in the present. "I think once we'd written those songs and got that out of the way, then we could get to some of the other stuff," she laughs.
Given Mayberry’s formative love of left-field singers and Midwest emo, it’s interesting that her debut effort sits so solidly under the pop umbrella she occupies with Chvrches. "I think I've always been a pop writer in terms of the melodies that I come up with are quite poppy. I think that that's just always how I've written," she says. "I knew that I wanted the lyrics and the storytelling to be more important in terms of the process and not be the last thing that goes into a song. My main rules were: I want to foreground that stuff, make that more of a priority, and I don't want to make a knock-off shit Chvrches album. I was fine to put the synths away for a bit. I was like, you’ve just got to follow your nose and do what feels right."
With the benefit of hindsight, Mayberry can articulate the stresses and disparities that quietly impacted her formative years in the group. Alongside a great appreciation and fondness for that era and the opportunities it benefited her, she details a sense of isolation and inadequacy. It’s these compounding themes that form the backbone of Vicious Creature, a record that can feel both hopeful and destructive, joyful and lost.
This week at Best Fit, we’re excited about Heavy Metal, the solo debut from Geese frontman Cameron Winter, released via the iconic Partisan Records. We’ve also been looping Irish-Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Jennifer Evans’ first project as Jæd, I Loved The Gauntlet And There Was No Other Way. Some other records we’ve been taking for a spin this week include Peter McPoland’s latest EP, Friend; Cosmic Waves Volume 1, a compilation project by Angel Olsen; coverstar Lauren Mayberry’s Vicious Creature; and Paris, the first live album from Nils Frahm.
Caleb Kunle performs “Mountain” in a SON Estrella session exclusively for Best Fit
Ahead of his performance at this month’s SON Estrella Galicia micro-festival in East London, rising future soul star Caleb Kunle has recorded a session for Best Fit, performing new song “Mountain”.
Drawing inspiration from the three places he calls home – Lagos, Laois & London – Kunle combines the power of storytelling akin to the folk traditions of Ireland and Nigeria. He will headline an evening of music, beer, food and workshops as part of SON Estrella Galicia's next micro-festival event at East London's Two Palms on 11 December – with tickets onsale now via DICE.
The introduction
The stuff of New York legend, this week we bring you F.G.S., an iconic performance and visual artist finally crossing over into the world of indie-pop.
Name… Flannery Silva
Age… 33
Hometown… Stone Ridge, NY
Describe your sound… Marilyn Monroe singing “River Of No Return” at the saloon.
How you started making music… My best friend asked me to start a band with her.
Biggest artistic risk you’ve taken… Surrendering.
Film you wish you’d made… “Return to Oz.”
Something we should bring back… The original FAO Schwarz.
F.G.S.’ first album, Tinker Bell’s Cough, is out now
From the archive…
It’s finally December, and that means holiday season is in full swing. Mariah Carey, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and, yes, Justin Bieber are all out to play. But it doesn’t have to only be so. At this special time, there’s room for more than just the stuff that could grace “Top of the Pops.” Look just beneath the sheen, and you’ll find hordes of indie holiday goodies, stuff for those whose favourite Christmas films include classics like Uncle Buck, Carol, National Lampoons, and The Family Stone. And for these holiday indie-inclined among you, Best Fit is here to help. Across the first 14 years of our history, we released a compilation of all-Canadian holiday tunes, the country that arguably does winter classics best (hockey pun intended). Our Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada series features feel-good tunes for the kinds of holidays that are perfectly imperfect, the ones that discard pretence and embrace good old fashioned fun. If this sounds like your thing, find it now across Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
Something Old, Something New
Every week, we share recommendations from the Best Fit community on two iconic records — one from the past, one from the present. This week, Liam Brown of two blinks, i love you shares his thoughts on Dreams by The Whitest Boy Alive (2006) and Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker (2024).
A lot of the music I’ve listened to growing up has influenced how I make music today, and Dreams by The Whitest Boy Alive definitely has a massive part to play in that. The sound of this record is perfect to me in lots of ways. I love how dry everything sounds, the drums sound like paper and the guitars feel like they have just been plugged directly into a practice amp. Each element of the band is playing their part so effectively and immediately and I feel like that alchemy makes for something quite timeless. There’s so many lessons to take away from this album on maybe taking a “less is more” approach to songwriting and production, and still having an incredibly fun and energetic record.
I don’t know if I would consider this as a ‘niche’ album, but I’d still like to talk about this record as it’s had an incredibly profound effect on me this past year. Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker came out in March, and, as I often am, I was captivated by the confessional and honest songwriting. “Free Treasure” is one in particular that encapsulates that feeling for me. I love it when songwriters talk about the little insignificant things in life that are often overlooked but are in fact so important to the experience of life and love. I feel that way when I listen to “Free Treasure.” Love is so subjective and personal and intimate, and to have a song that invites you into that place — which is more times than not indescribable — is to me a massive privilege.
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 from the last five days in music that we’ve got on repeat in the Best Fit office right now.
Topping our list this week we’ve got re6ce, mary in the junkyard, Dutch Interior, Anna Shoemaker, and coverstar Tara Nome Doyle.
Was there a single narrative thread to this year in music, some broad conclusion to be drawn about the state of humanity? Hard to say.