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 new single ‘Worldview’, a driving dream pop track that shimmers amongst the gloominess, acknowledging the beauty in the world while it seemingly burns around us. Working with long time collaborator and highly acclaimed producer Elliot Heinrich, who’s work has featured in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, FIFA ’22 and been released by Matador and Sony, amongst others. The band release the single ahead of their extensive European, UK and Irish tour dates in July.
Fragile Animals – Worldview (Spotify Link)
“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). Drawn to all things melancholy they pull on influences that range from Phoebe Bridgers, Wolf Alice, MBV and Alvvays to heavy gazers Loathe and the genre defying Fontaines DC and Radiohead. The band say that they value authenticity in music more than anything, and it’s this authenticity we hear on new single ‘Worldview’.
“An intoxicating mixture of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, Fragile Animals music stays with you long after you’ve stopped listening.”
Tone Deaf
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.
Victoria says, “This was written in a very selfish way. I felt really disengaged from the world. Trying to live up to other people’s idea of you, put me under pressure to suppress and filter myself in a way that left me feeling detached from who I actually am. In an attempt to make things better, I went away for ten days to Queenstown in New Zealand. I was just desperate to feel something and remember how to live in my own skin. As cliched as it sounds, I found myself again, and along the way became fiercely protective of that new found inspiration and sense of self.”
Catch them on tour:
22 June – Dresden, Germany (Farewell Youth Festival)
3 July – Belfast, Northern Ireland (Ulster Sports Club
4 July – Dublin, Ireland
5 July – London, England (Victoria Dalston)
9 July – Manchester, England (Rat & Pigeon)
10 July – Hull, England (The New Adelphi Club)
11 July – Edinburgh, Scotland (Mash House)
12 July – Glasgow, Scotland
13 or 14 July – Newcastle, England
MORE TBA
Fragile Animals – Worldview (Spotify Link)