“THIS BAND IS NOT AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS” -NATTI “I remember when we got to the venue, I had this moment where I looked out on the stage, and we’ve played some big stages before, but I remember walking out and thinking that it was a real adults venue,” he says. “We’re a real band now, there’s no denying it. With the fact we didn’t even have an album out, it really was just the beginning. When you see bands that you’ve loved for years playing the same venue, and now you’ve done that too, it’s a pretty mad feeling.” Natti takes a moment to pour some more red wine into her
BROOKLYN When Fickle Friends hit the jackpot, they hit it big. Part of a run of singles which went bigger with every step, ‘Brooklyn’ is a pitch perfect banger from the top of the pile. The sound of a band confident in their own skin. From here on out, the game was already won.
glass. “I still consider ourselves sometimes as a band playing these 100 capacity venues, so when they’re putting up the lighting rig and rolling on the fucking hundreds of palm trees onto the stage, it makes you realise things.” After all the relentless nights, the moments where they scrambled to make ends meet and the glorious highs that have come from countless weeks pushing, writing, playing and dreaming - Fickle Friends’ time is now. What started as a pipe-dream now feels like a certainty, Fickle Friends are the pop band the
CRY BABY From the opening boopy beats, ‘Cry Baby’ was here to lay down a challenge. Strapping one of the best alt-pop choruses in recent memory, it’s the kind of banger that can defuse any dancefloor. Bitter sweet good-day-bad-day vibes, you’d struggle to find better.
world needs right now, and the bright lights are only going to get brighter. Those years and years evolving have given them that unique benefit of experience, in a world of streaming hits and shifting trends they already know that the hard work is just going to continue, and none may be as prepared for it as they are. “I’m very aware of the fact that this band is not an overnight success,” notes Natti, “and I don’t think we ever will be. It’s a slow burner, but I think that’s maybe a good thing for us and longevity. Getting to the point where Two Door Cinema Club are now, where
HELLO HELLO “You’re a winner, even though you think you’re not,” goes ‘Hello Hello’ - equal parts nervous lust and pseudo empowerment. Deadly effective pop banger on the surface, like everything Fickle Friends do, the lyrics show something deeper beneath the surface.
you can do album after album, you can headline festivals, can play The O2 - that’s the dream, but we’re full-time musicians! That’s the fucking dream, right? “Things might change when this album comes out, because I think people have kinda pigeon-holed us a little bit. I open up Twitter and see people saying that we are like Paramore and The 1975’s love-child, or say we sound like Pale Waves, and I just want them to listen to our album and see we’re not like that. That’s the beauty of having an album, we can now show off all of the different sides of what we can
GLUE If there’s one glorious trait that connects all of Fickle Friends’ bangers, it’s their ability to transport the listener to another world. It could be a cold, windy, dark day in Bolton, but the minute ‘Glue’ hits the sun is out. Cocktails on the balcony at sunset in a hazy, Mediterranean paradise there’s no surprise it’s so addictive.
do.” The band finish off the pitcher and crack away in the spirit of old childhood friends. Over the past few years, they’ve experienced the highs and lows that come with being in a band determined to lay out their own path and willing to push themselves to the furthest extents to get there - and now, they’re on the cusp of a glorious new chapter. Fickle Friends have promised the big-time for so long, and now the full technicolour wonder of their world is about to be beamed loud and proud for the world to hear. For now, there’s pizza on the way and the chance to grab some much-needed respite before it all kicks off, thinking of what’s to come. Chatting about how people will receive the album, Natti continues to think. “Maybe everyone will love the more off-kilter indie songs, and our next record will be moving away from pop.” There’s a pause. “I mean - who fucking knows, but it’ll be what we’re into.” Fickle Friends. Doing things their way since 2013. Next stop? Wherever they want to go - nobody’s going to stop them now. P Fickle Friends’ album ‘You Are Someone Else’ is out now.
HARD TO BE MYSELF Liquid confidence and selfdoubt doesn’t fit the usual banger template, but we’re living in the era of juxtaposition. Muted beats explode into an oasislike chorus (no, not *that* Oasis), proving that - when it comes down to it - even future pop stars have the same doubts as the rest of us.
DOWN WITH BORING
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