Firekites are back! Closing Forever Sky is the much anticipated follow up to their sparkling debut, The Bowery.
Somewhat of a revolving collective, Newcastle’s Firekites unveiled the first taste of their new record in late February, with the release of title track ‘Closing Forever Sky’.
Commandeering the formal dining room of Mcphee’s home, core members Pegs Adams, Ben Howe, Timothy Mcphee and Jason Tampake set about meticulously crafting and recording this suite of seven new songs….John McEntire was then enlisted to mix the entire thing at his famous Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago, Illinois, and the results are breathtaking.
From the outset of the opening track it’s evident that we’re in for a much darker ride than the first album. Hand claps and chitchatting acoustic guitars have been traded for sure-footed drum beats and warm Kid A-esque analogue tones.
This is a headphone album, that’s for sure. Repeated listens constantly reveal exciting twists and turns.
Guitars Thurston-spaz and tremolo swoop, delicate keys twinkle underneath haunted swarms, while sneaky drum triplets wait in the wings to pounce and kick the whole song’s arse! In fact it’d be more on the button to call them “pieces” or arrangements rather than songs. Luscious passages spectacularly segue from one to the next painting stories of grandeur.
The long wait between albums has definitely been worth it.
FIREKITES – CLOSING FOREVER SKY – AUGUST 15
Vinyl pre-order available here.
TRACKLISTING
01 Closing Forever Sky
02 Fallen
03 The Counting
04 Fifty Secrets
05 Somewhere Bright First
06 Said Without A Sound
07 Antidote