An Interview With Fragile Animals
A fresh new album release from Fragile Animals comes through with a very unique combination of what most would consider to be shoegaze blended with grunge, post-rock, and others, all bunched together to create a super vast and atmospheric record that can easily swallow you up.
The genres I just used to describe the Tourist EP don't do it enough Justice, to be honest.
What makes this record special is the time and attention that was put into creating the aesthetic that they actually do.
There are very particular guitar tones that feel distanced and have this depth to them. The record boasts a haunting feeling that lurks just beneath its surface, and there is a dreaminess that invites you to float alongside it, all at the same time.
The actual textures that are created throughout this release are beautifully engulfing.
The release starts with a track called "People I'll Never Know", which introduces the record wonderfully as it is composed of floating guitars that already let you feel like you're lying face up in an ocean staring at the night sky.
That atmosphere starts building right from the beginning of this entire thing.
The vocals are gorgeous but also bear that same haunt, and you start to let the soundscape crawl under your skin in the best ways possible.
That first track is just an intro to the record. It's only 1 minute long or so and the following track picks right up.
The two connect and that intro goes into the title track, "Tourist".
This song defines the record damn near perfectly. You get so many of the best elements of this record right from this one single track, and that's because they're able to pull off this lush and almost warm vibe that brings together that dream rock and shoegaze tone seamlessly.
Again, that spacious undertone and cinematic backbone are thriving throughout this release, and it's something that lets you get very deep into it.
Now, when I say things like that, don't get the wrong idea. Getting very deep into this record is an amazing feeling.
Letting the record surround you and allowing yourself to drift with it is a beautiful thing. The whole record lets you feel like you're in a dream where you're hovering through the air, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop in a suburban neighborhood from your youth.
The vocals are layered and thick with an airy tonality, and it feels almost like they are instruments themselves.
They add such a wondrous and almost fantastical element to the already vast soundscape that you hear.
I absolutely love how the vocals match the entire energy of the music.
Everyone feeds into each other during this record. Each band member has a way of creating this aesthetic that feels like the whole record is alive and breathing.
It's a strange thing to say, I know, but you have to listen to this to really understand what I'm talking about.
The release is an entity, and songs connect in different ways, so this is a record you should listen to all the way through in one shot.
There's a lot of brightness in the release as well. Tracks like "Sending Flares" give you this sort of spirited, but still very spacious approach, and I love when things feel positive throughout this record, but I also love when there is that haunt there as well.
It's a beautiful blend of that edginess that you want to hear from a good shoegaze record, but you always feel afloat. This is basically the best you can ask for from a record that's bringing together some of those great elements of shoegaze, rock, dream pop, and more.
You get some faster-paced tracks too, like the closing track, which is one of my favorites, called "Allergic".
This one's more upbeat, it hits a little harder, there's a bit more Edge, and you hear a lot of that pop overcoat coming through.
The whole record is definitely unique and has this sort of graceful approach that feels almost elegant in a way.
Is elegant dreamgaze a thing? If it wasn't before then it is now.
This is a record you put on headphones to listen to.
I say this sometimes when I hear an album that bears that certain kind of depth. Only records with layers do I suggest listening to with headphones on, really.
This is because when you pop on some headphones, you can take in all of those textures and layers. An EP like this one provides plenty to soak in, especially in terms of textural layers and sound.
When you listen to this record with headphones on, you can float, drift, swim, and dream along with everything that's happening.
Go get embedded into this record because it's an awesome feeling.
This is an escape. And it's one you deserve.
Now, with the release of this record, I absolutely had to talk to the band about it. I wanted to know where it came from and also what might be coming next for them, so we had an interview with Fragile Animals.
Here's what went down.
TSWS: Hey and, thanks for taking some time with us! Let's talk a bit about the Tourist record! This release had spacious and vibrant vibes and amazing guitar work! Beautiful and engulfing edge and personality! Where did this record come from?
Haha, where indeed did it come from?
I guess ultimately it came from being fans of music. Lots of incredible records were released last year and when you're surrounded by people making great music you just want to be writing yourself. The end half of last year was like that for us. We were writing like mad for a while and the Tourist EP was the end result.
TSWS: I am hearing some great styles here! Can you give us some of your biggest musical influences?
Truthfully, we all come at music from slightly different places. We have some contrasting tastes and then some bands/records where we all overlap. We love MBV, Wolf Alice, Alvvays, Slowdive, DIIV and Phoebe Bridgers a whole lot.
TSWS: How did this all start for you as a band?
We've been a band for a little while now. It's been about 8 years. Dan and I have known each other since we were in school together. We'd played in other bands, both together and separately, and then in 2016/17 he was working on new music and I started writing vocals for it and everything moved forward from that point. We made a couple of EPs and a full length record with our original drummer, Kyle, and then he left to follow his heart in other directions. Dylan has been playing drums for us ever since and Harley joined us on guitar just ahead of our current tour. We're all super close and I couldn't wish for a better or more talented bunch of people to be in a band with.
TSWS: Do you find it hard to write songs like this?
I think there are parts of songwriting that are easy and parts that are tricky. It can be tricky to stay in the right creative headspace when you've got a day job and all the usual stuff going on around you. It can also be tricky to get the final 10% of a song worked out. It's easy to overthink all your creative choices and pretty difficult to call a song 'finished' because there is always something more you could technically do with it. But, if you actually just trust yourself, and trust the process, then 90% of making music is quite effortless. It sounds really pretentious, but if you're a creative person and a huge music fan writing music is kind of just inevitable.
TSWS: Do you play live shows at all?
We do, and it's my favourite part. The heart and soul of my appreciation for music is grounded in a love of watching live bands. There's nothing else like it. For me, listing to records is just a way of keeping the feeling of a great show alive in my mind until I can see that band again. Similarly, my favourite part of being in a band is playing shows together. We're currently on our first UK/EU tour and we couldn't be happier.
TSWS: Who is in all your headphones right now?
Right at this moment, while I'm writing this, I'm listening to Been Stellar. Their 'Scream From New York, NY' record was one of my favourites from last year. By chance they were in London at the same time as us because they played Finsbury Park supporting Fontaines D.C. (who I also adore), and they played a secret RSVP show in Camden the next night. We went to see them and they were fantastic. I knew they'd be incredible and they still blew me away. This trip in our tour van we've also been playing Parkway Drive, Turnover, Armlock, Garage Sale, Title Fight, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, DIIV, Shame, The Belair Lip Bombs, Big Bite, The Murder Capital, Gurriers and MJ Lenderman.
TSWS: What kind of advice would you have for other bands getting their music out there?
I think the best advise I could offer would be to figure out who you truly are both creatively and as a person and then hold onto that with everything you have. Don't always assume that someone knows better than you do just because they have a 'name' or have been in the game for longer than you. Be open minded in every way but trust yourself above all else. Most importantly, find a way to keep going when everything feels impossible and you feel ridiculous for even trying. Fighting for a place in the music industry is really difficult, but if you can find a way to keep going no matter what, most of the battle is already won.
TSWS: What can you say people might expect from this release?
To me, Tourist sounds like Fragile Animals, but with all the growth you'd expect over a year and half. We try to write continuously, but it doesn't ever work out that way. Life gets in the way so there are inevitable gaps in what we do, and I think that's definitely a blessing in disguise. It means that we have time to grow and evolve between batches of songwriting. I think for this record we lent into a heavier sound, or at least a more intense sound. We stripped things away and layered less when we were recording than we had on previous records. It meant that everything that was left was vitally important and really there to say something. We self-produced and recorded for the first time with this EP and it was a really cool experience for us. We loved being able to visualise the songs and then capture them ourselves in our own little world before handing them off to Elliot Heinrich to mix. Elliot has been with us in one form or another from the very start and is a complete genius...we're very lucky to have him in our corner.
