As they head towards the
June 24th release of their new album
‘Interiority’,
Fyfe & Iskra Strings share a final taste of the album in the shape of the new song
‘It’s A Waste Man’, which features the alt-pop duo
Aquilo. The collaboration between
Fyfe & Iskra Strings is one of the most intriguing of the year, and has been reflected with huge support at
6 Music (a playlist plus as well from
Lauren Laverne,
Steve Lamacq,
Guy Garvey and
Amy Lamé) together with
Jamz Supernova at
Selector Radio.
Throughout the campaign, Fyfe & Iskra Strings have demonstrated an intuitive ability to coax the very best out of each other, as well as their numerous collaborators (including Ghostpoet and Mysie) and many more. That skill is indelible in ‘It’s A Waste Man’ too. Together with Aquilo, they’ve created a cathedral of sound which wraps intricate vocal harmonies – sometimes upfront in the mix, at others drifting in the ether like a forgotten promise – within sanguine strings and piano complemented by modest pop beats. LISTEN HERE. Watch the live acoustic video HERE.
Fyfe explains, “Walking back to the tube after writing with Aquilo I emailed the track to James saying I thought it was one of the most beautiful songs I’d been a part of writing. James had an instant connection too and we set about arranging and producing it, bringing it into the Fyfe & Iskra Strings world. The combination of all 4 creative minds has produced something really special, and having been admirers of Aquilo since their first EPs, it’s a joy to have been able to work with them on this project”.
Aquilo add, “‘It’s A Waste Man’ is a song we wrote with Fyfe ages ago that we’d totally forgotten about until he messaged us asking if he could use it for his project with Iskra Strings. They went on to put their own spin on it and we were blown away. We may be biased, but we think it’s beautiful.”
In addition to the songs that have previewed the album, ‘Interiority’ presents many more highlights through its rich tapestry of sonics. It’s a set which makes otherwise disparate genres feel like long-lost friends, its mix of experimental pop and post-classical becoming particularly immersive within further collabs with Rae Morris (‘Origami’) and Kelly Lee Owens(‘Spirographs’). From the apocalyptic drama of ‘Eschaton’ to the impermanence of the near lullaby ‘An[n]ew’, it’s an album that introduces new ideas at every moment.
‘Interiority’ is available to pre-order or pre-save HERE. Fyfe recently shared a video which showed how Dan Whiteson’s cover art was cut into pieces as part of the record’s very exclusive Super Deluxe Edition.
Having first met when Iskra Strings (James Underwood) was hired to give Fyfe (Paul Dixon) violin lessons, the two artists have been friends for most of their lives. It’s only now, however, that they recorded a full album together, following on from their ‘Extended Play’ EPs and compilation. Along the way they’ve delivered consistently accomplished and intriguing music in a variety of forms: Fyfe as a solo artist as well under his previous identity David’s Lyre; Iskra Strings as an arranger and orchestrator for The xx, Maribou State, Sufjan Stevens and more.
Aquilo – Ben Fletcher and Tom Higham – achieved huge streaming stats for early songs such as ‘Silhouette’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘Thin’. Yet their 2021 album ‘A Safe Place To Be’ signified a rebirth which truly saw their songcraft blossom, with pop played with fascinating genre detours and with lyrics rich with observation and emotion. The set took them back to the Radio 1airwaves as they fired over the 500 million streams career landmark. The duo recently completed a UK tour as special guests to Oh Wonder and are now working on new music.
