Following a sold-out three-week residency at State51 Factory, Fyfe Dangerfield, the founder and frontman of Guillemots, today continues his resurgence as he shares his brand new single ‘The Zebra Wind’, which has just been premiered by Chris Hawkins at 6 Music. Both ‘The Zebra Wind’ and the recent track ‘Shook’ will feature on Fyfe Dangerfield’s upcoming “seven-tracker”, which will be released in May.
‘The Zebra Wind’ lands us on the tenderer side of the coin to the brasher, more visceral ‘Shook’; a blurry-eyed magic carpet ride through a vista of “honey monkeys” and “bubble-wrapping trees / beneath which snakes lie still unseen/aborting lovestruck tenancies”, with Fyfe’s languid vocals hovering intimately high over a rolling, slow-motion ghostband accompaniment. At least until – in the playful twists that flow so readily in Fyfe’s music – words alone fail, and the baton is gripped by (possibly) an elf with a penchant for freestyle scat-singing.
Fyfe says, “With ‘Shook’, I was fully diving into the labyrinth of studio-world .. all these different sounds crossfading in & out .. but ‘The Zebra Wind’ is the complete opposite; I put down the roughest sketch for the music, just something to sing over, and then the vocal & lyrics fell out in one take, so I just ended up leaving it alone .. it bottled a very particular mood & moment in my life, so it felt right for the track to stay in its nightgown, rather than dress it up anymore .. ”
Listen to ‘The Zebra Wind’ – BELOW:
Both ‘The Zebra Wind’ and the upcoming seven-tracker will be released via Fyfe’s Channels May Change cottage industry. The record label component of the wider multimedia creative platform will allow Fyfe to release music entirely on his own terms, free from the pressures of deadlines, industry timelines, and commercial or even genre considerations. Any idea that fires up Fyfe’s imagination will have a home. His recent Birdwatcher broadcasts provide a flavour of what Channels May Change allows him to do, with original songs, sound collages, an assortment of unhinged characters, esoteric visuals & virtual tasting menus alchemising into a surreal radio show from the other side.
Recent weeks have seen Fyfe mark his return in a variety of ways, including a three-show live residency at the State 51 Factory, sharing a list of favourite tracks with The Line of Best Fit (where else will you see Richard Burton next to Deee-Lite?), and improvising football-themed songs in the style of Bob Dylan & Elvis Costello on Patrick Kielty’s 5 Live Show.
Fyfe Dangerfield first came to prominence as the founder and focal point of the multinational Guillemots. Singles such as ‘Made-Up Lovesong #43’, ‘Trains To Brazil’, ‘Kriss Kross’ and ‘Walk the River’ found the sweet spot between cult adoration, critical acclaim and commercial success. It resulted in a Gold certification for their debut album ‘Through The Windowpane’, a Top 10 chart peak for the follow-up ‘Red’, and Mercury Prize, BRIT and NME Award nominations.
The band’s shows varied in nature, from conventional highlights such as a mainstage Glastonbury slot, headlining 2000trees and performing as guests for R.E.M. to performing a live soundtrack for David Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead’ and featuring at the BBC Electric Proms. Fyfe has also released the solo album ‘Fly Yellow Moon’, interpreted Billy Joel’s ‘She’s Always A Woman’ for a John Lewis campaign, composed commissions for The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, cellist Natalie Clein and Ex Cathedra choir, and founded the free jazz improv collective Gannets.
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