Experimentally familiar, The National’s new release, Sleep Well Beast, is a collaborative effort at changing the recording process. All five members have had the opportunity to go off in new directions since the release of Trouble Will Find Me in 2013.…
Some bands create a niche for themselves that’s so particular they end up being terribly boring. The furrow The National have ended up in is certainly distinctive, but every earnest, stirring indie rock ballad that comes from it is unmistakably…
Having completed a beautiful set at Dorset’s ‘End Of The Road’ Festival last weekend, FFS are pleased to hear Caitlin Rose has set out on her biggest UK Headline tour so far, finishing at West London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on…
Dear readers, This week I present to you a playlist of which I am particularly proud. The subject was born from the many celebrations my dear friend Elizabeth has been inspiring of late, and the many, many toasts we have…
Named after a National song? Only been together a year and already supported Elbow? Seems like Manchester band The Slow Show have got it all worked out already, doesn’t it? But before they hit the big time, the FFS New…
Portraits of Emmy the Great, Dan Mangan, Iron & Wine and Anna Calvi feature in London-based figurative painter Joe Simpson’s exhibition ‘Musician Portraits’ opening next month. The paintings will be on display from 14th – 30th October at a temporary…
Brooklyn brilliants The National have invited their fellow New Yorkers Phosphorescent on their 17-date European tour. It’s not the first times the bands have teamed up. To promote their latest (and excellent) album, The National took over an empty shop…
Ah, The National; that type of band who, through perseverance and solidity, capture people’s hearts one by one, slowly but steadily, brewing their musical barley until it is ready for consumption to lift people’s spirits and to quench the thirst…
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Say No To Love The Pains of Being Pure at Heart may be telling us to ‘Say No To Love’ in their latest single, but it will be hard to keep away…
There’s something frighteningly well thought out about High Violet – over its 47 minute duration every song seems perfectly well placed to create the mood that the band want you to feel. Whilst it’s certainly not a concept album there…