FEWS

Shadowy noise pop group Fews are a Swedish-based/American-fronted quartet who operate largely out of London. After early demos of their noisy post-punk-meets-shoegaze approach to songwriting caught the attention of various labels and producers, Fews evolved from the songwriting project of two like-minded musicians into a fully formed band, working with producer Dan Carey on several well-received singles and eventually their acclaimed 2016 debut album, Means.

In 2013, David Alexander moved from San Francisco to Malmo, Sweden, to work on music with Fred Rundqvis after cultivating a friendship with him online. The two had bonded over their love of dark and uneasy bands, and began writing songs together that looked to Krautrock's repetitive rhythms as much as they did the grim tonality of Radiohead or Interpol. After getting enthusiastic responses to their early demos from labels and producers, Rundqvis and Alexander enlisted drummer Rasmus "Rusty" Andersson and a bassist who went only by Lulu to take Fews from a writing project to a fully formed band. They worked extensively with British producer Dan Carey (TOY, Bat for Lashes, Kate Tempest) and signed on with his London-based indie label Speedy Wunderground, which released their debut single, "ILL," in 2015. The song introduced their propulsive post-punk- and Krautrock-inspired style and was followed later that year by a second single, "The Zoo." With Carey at the helm, Fews recorded their debut LP, Means, which was released in the spring of 2016 by Play It Again Sam. The band went on to promote the effort with a European tour that lasted throughout 2016 and tided fans over with several singles over the next two years, including a cover of Gary Numan's "Metal." Fews returned to the studio in 2018 to work on their sophomore effort. The album, titled Into Red, was co-produced with Joakim Lindberg (Echo Ladies, Nightmen) and was preceded by the single "Paradiso" before its release in early 2019. ~ Timothy Monger