Firestations

“MATERIAL TO LUXURIATE IN... LUSH” – JOYZINE
“PACKS A POWERFUL MELODIC PUNCH WHILST BEING INFUSED WITH INTELLIGENT SONGCRAFT AND RICH DETAILS” – CONCRETE ISLANDS
ALBUM OF NOTE – RODDY HART, BBC RADIO SCOTLAND
“THEIR STRANGEST AND MOST COMPELLING RECORD YET” – FOR THE RABBITS
“MELANCHOLY TEMPERED BY SHIMMERING SHOEGAZE... A WISTFUL DELIGHT” – ELECTRONIC SOUND
“MATURITY OF STYLE AND A COMMENDABLE VARIETY OF TONES – IMMEDIATE AND AT THE SAME TIME CONCEPTUALLY ABSTRACT POP” – BLOW UP

A clear-eyed and bold statement deftly combining big ideas with pop sensibilities, London dream-pop ensemble Firestations’ second album for Lost Map titled Thick Terrain was released in July 2023 to widespread acclaim. Ahead of a UK tour in October and November, it’s swiftly followed by the release of the Stillness EP. Out now via Lost Map’s PostMap Club subscription service in the month of October, with the original version of title track available to stream and share now via digital services, the EP represents an intriguing appendage of sorts to Thick Terrain, capturing Firestations’ restless approach to finding fresh perspectives on their work. Additional to the album version and a radio edit of ‘Stillness’, it features six separate remixes/reworkings of the same song, four between them by fellow sonic explorers Sulk Rooms, Arvo Party and The Analog Girl, plus another two by Firestations. All of which in contrasting ways speak to the mesmeric heart of the original. 

“This song came together in the studio in a fun way,” says Mike of the original version of ‘Stillness’, which is the climactic closing track on Thick Terrain. “There’s a much slower, thirteen-minute version on a hard drive somewhere, but this one holds together better. The general idea is that only you can give yourself the stillness and calm that you need, but you’re also in uniquely the worst position to be able to do that. It won’t ultimately come from anywhere external. My brain is so noisy sometimes that only noise will stop it. I like that the loudest part of the song is where we ask for stillness – kind of an ‘eye of the storm’ sort of thing.” 

Sulk Rooms AKA Thomas Ragsdale’s remix of ‘Stillness’ is an enchanting daydream inspired by Daniel Avery’s more meditative moments, the chorus vocal refrain surfacing periodically only to be buried again in atmospheric ambience. There are two dancefloor-ready remixes from Belfast electro noisenik Arvo Party, one smooth and 80s inspired the other twitchy and minimal. Singaporean electronic musician The Analog Girl comprehensively deconstructs the original and reconfigures it in myriad ways before focusing in on a swaying hypnotic groove. There’s a Firestations ‘Sunken Version’ put together by Mike with acoustic guitar and electronic ambience, Laura’s transportive vocals placed front and centre, plus a sludgy ‘Fuzzy Version’ excavated from a dusty hard-drive. 

Firestations are Michael Cranny, Laura Copsey, Martin Thompson, Tom Hargreaves and Neil Walsh. Together they make music spanning genres from shoegazey indie to synth pop and harmony-driven psychedelia. Their debut album for Lost Map, The Year Dot, was released in 2018 and was hailed by The List magazine for “pursuing ambitious social commentaries while playfully teasing its own sonic glitches”. The Automatic Tendencies project, a prolific burst of creativity to stave off madness during lockdown, saw the band refine their brand of conceptual alt-pop, with songs taking a closer look at themes of identity, belonging, progress and escapism. It comprised three EPs released over a six-month period – Automatic Tendencies, Melted Medium and Pixel Wilderness –­­­ each embracing a mixtape aesthetic, by including alternative “sunken” versions by the band as well as covers and remixes of new Firestations tracks by other artists. Copsey, who is an illustrator, curated collections of unique limited-edition artworks that expanded on ideas within each release, from a brass chip fork to a ceramic mountain.

 Thick Terrain sees Firestations find their way back to the full album format again, following a period of writing and reconfiguration – bassist Giles Littleford departing for the Midlands, replaced by Walsh. In mid-2022 the band entered Otterhead Studios in Warwickshire, and quickly turned out a set of songs which felt like they belonged together. Ten tracks, ranging from cyclical hypnotic sci-fi numbers to addictive dream-pop jangles, exploring ideas around conflict, progress and sanity, or a lack of it. “Where is the joy?” sings Cranny on lead single ‘Undercover’. “Is it over? Where is the joy? Still undercover?”