Fickle Friends - Are We Gonna Be Alright? Album Review diymag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from diymag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vocalist and guitarist for the band, Alice Johnson, described the song as being “based on the negative impact toxic people have on your mental health and the moment you realise how toxic they are,” which can be seen in the track’s lyrics that centre around letting go of someone.
Comparable to bands such as Wolf Alice or The Night Café, swim school have gained the attention of the Scottish indie scene, having played hometown shows at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut and TRNMT, as well as supporting alternative band The Xcerts on their UK tour. With the strong single
“
Cosmic Coming of Age is about that transitional period in life where everything seems to fall apart, a kind of quarter life crisis,” she explains. “One moment you have everything together, the next it feels like you have to start life from scratch. In horoscope astrology this is seen as the time of reaching full adulthood, and man does the universe make you work for it!”
Fickle Friends speak of this period of turbulence and uncertainty with reflective positivity. Through describing it as a “coming of age”, it seems that lead vocalist Natti Shiner has come out of the other side of Saturn return. She seems to have more clarity and certainty within herself now, and she is able to reflect on her growth positively. The band merge this unique and interesting lyrical topic with the typical upbeat indie sound of their previous releases.
The song’s lyrics hark back to Waterparks’ previous releases. The opening lyric to the pre-chorus, “Hello to the FANDOM / Please don’t have a TANTRUM”, references their third studio album, 2019’s ‘FANDOM’, and their 2018 track
TANTRUM. Elsewhere in the track, humorous lyrics can be found, such as “My band and I are like Coldplay / That’s allowed to say the f k word”.
Whilst
Slow Globe was a mellow, electronic based track, where guitars were entirely absent,
Numb is an aggressive and boisterous pop punk anthem with a huge chorus. The two tracks couldn’t be more different, but they both display the best of the different sides of Waterparks’ diverse sound. Even though the album title ‘Greatest Hits’ may seem arrogant and egotistical, the band are doing a great job at living up to it so far.