Fragile Animals Release New EP ‘Tourist’ (Dreampop/Shoegaze) Out Today
Since their formation Fragile Animals have been busy carving their name into the very bones of the shoegaze scene. Having already released two Eps, Light That Fades and Only Shallow // Only More before 2023’s highly successful album Slow Motion Burial, which garnered attention from Spotify’s editorial playlists New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, Broad Chords, and New Indie & Alt along with multiple accolades from taste makers Triple J, DKFM and AMRAP. The band return with their bold new EP ‘Tourist’. Over the course of the 6 tracks the band further expand upon their gloomy dream pop sound, heartbreaker lead lines and glide guitars have more depth and weight as the band make devastating use of space. All given voice to by Victoria Jenkins’ vocals as she navigates reconnecting with a world she felt disengaged from for so long. Now fiercely protective of this new inspiration the band have produced their most realised work to date.
Victoria says, “I was really fascinated with the thought that we’re all kind of all tourists in each other’s lives, perceiving each other with varying degrees of accuracy. Much like when a tourist visits a place and their experience shapes their reality of the place. But truthfully, they’re only seeing a portion of that reality. I think that’s how we experience everything in life. The people we know, the places we visit, our entire experience of the world is that of a tourist. It’s unsettling, but also quite a romantic thought. I find it beautiful that we can feel so strongly about someone or something alongside an awareness of how flawed the representation of it could be. “
“You’re making 1991 sound just like yesterday. 4.5 stars”
Triple J
The gestation period for the band began back when Victoria Jenkins (Vocals/Bass) and Daniel Parkinson (Guitars) met back in school. A few years later the pair found themselves working on debut single ‘Signals’. Over the course of the next few years, they were joined by Dylan Stewart(Drums) and Melinda Huurdeman (Guitars). The band say that they value authenticity in music while striving for connection, acceptance and understanding between themselves and their fanbase. It’s this authenticity and desire for connection we hear on new EP ‘Tourist’.
“An intoxicating mixture of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, Fragile Animals music stays with you long after you’ve stopped listening.”
Tone Deaf
The EP opens with a short intro track ‘People I’ll Never Know’. Thematically it’s the perfect opener as it addresses the possibility of people we will never meet having a profound impact on us. Victoria says “It made me feel weirdly sad and lonely. It’s strange to feel the ‘lack’ of something that was never there in the first place.” Guitars drip in watery chorus while panned tremolo flourishes and delay oscillations make it feel like a portion of an intercepted transmission. Further imbuing the short song with a sense of longing and distance.
Title track ‘Tourist’ is the quintessential Fragile Animals song. A short kick snare pattern intro explodes into the track with a driving, melodic bass line that acts as an anchor throughout, while tremolo leads line echo into infinity. Dylans snare drum shuffle in the verse helps keep momentum and maintain the atmosphere of the song without resorting to a more traditional beat. The sparse guitars in the verse give ample space for Victoria’s vocals. A pre-chorus break providing quick tension and release before it hits. There are a myriad of hooks across the song, from the trem-lead guitar to the ‘la-la’ vocals and the pre-chorus break, the band leaning into the pop side of dream pop. As we hit the middle some dissonant reverse reverb guitars delve strongly back into shoegaze territory. Lyrically Victoria says, “The song is about how weirdly beautiful it is to be powerfully affected by the words of people I don’t know. We’ve a fundamental need to be accepted and understood. I’ve found it difficult to hold onto my sense of self at times but I’ve found so much self-belief through hearing people I respect describe their past and relating to it in my present. It’s validating, and validation is powerful when you feel like you’re fighting to justify yourself and what you want from life.”
When it came time to record the vocals for track three, ‘Sending Flares’, the band decamped to the radio station where Dylan works. In the near soundproof room, Victoria sat on the floor with her eyes closed, holding the pen and notebook she used when I was writing it, channelling the sorrowful longing the song captures. The vocal take is honest, raw and visceral, the line ‘I’m not alone’ resonates out. The band used a baritone guitar for the rhythm parts to help set and capture the mood along with a coveted Ed O’Brien Strat for the lead parts. It’s a track that is powerful, emotional and while still retaining the bands dream pop sensibilities as we’re hit with hook after hook, all wrapped up in a fuzzy Mellon collie.
‘Into It’ is a song the band had for a longtime that finally found a home on the new EP. Again the band lean into some baritone guitar to help capture the sombre mood on the track. Heavy reverb guitars in the chorus help make the track feel expansive and vast, while a melodic guitar part snakes its way through the haze. As was the case with a lot of the songs, the band tracked at night, and as this session hit 2am Dylan persevered. These late night tracking sessions seem to have permeated the music as the track has a definite after midnight feel. The lyrics are filled with desperation and despair, as the world falls apart we are frogs slowly being brought to the boil.
Lead single ‘Worldview’, is a driving dream pop track that shimmers amongst the gloominess, acknowledging the beauty in the world while it seemingly burns around us. From the outset there’s an inherent tension to the song, a taut Joy Division-for-2025 riff drives the song throughout. Lyrically the song addresses the delicate duality of being aware and informed about what’s happening in the world and not letting the harshness of that reality completely ruin being alive. Seeing the beauty amongst the darkest of times. The band say “We need the awful truth so that we can keep trying to steer the ship away from the rocks, but it’s the beautiful stuff that gives us a reason to want to live. This song is me crying out for a dose of something good.” The duality is reflected in the music, tension laced with shimmering chorus, release coming via exploding fuzz and oscillating tremolo, that feel like cracks of light amongst the darkness. The production is punchy and clear, from the thumping kick drum and machine gun snare rolls, to the pristine vocals, emotive and passionate, they forego the standard shoegaze troupe of being buried amongst the mix, ensuring the message is clear and understood.
Closing track ‘Allergic’ takes the driving energy on ‘Worldview’ and doubles it. The band say the track came together quickly which is reflected in the immediacy and intensity of the track. Victoria’s bass is central to the song, providing the melodic anchor, while Dylans drums provide the heartbeat to push things forward with snare rolls punctuating throughout. Melinda and Dan’s guitars swirl around, shimmering and chiming, or providing textural swathes or distorted trem echoes. The lyrics are about being human and feeling a fundamental sense of empathy at seeing another person hurting. The horror associated with being powerless in that situation but the beauty in having that empathy. Victoria says ‘To care so much that it hurts is probably humanity’s one redeeming quality.’
FFO: Phoebe Bridgers, Wolf Alice, MBV, Alvvays, Loathe, Fontaines DC, Radiohead