Frightened Rabbit

Source: The List (Issue 599)
Date: 27 March 2008
Written by: Sean Welsh

Comments (0)

Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Thu 27 Mar; Barfly, Glasgow, Sat 29 Mar

INDIE

Returning the conquering heroes from equipment trashing gigs at SXSW, Frightened Rabbit are playing a series of Scottish shows to mark the imminent release of their follow up to lauded debut Sing the Greys. A stronger, poppier set, produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National), The Midnight Organ Fight expands on their debut’s sonic blueprint with deceptively pretty melodies concealing weirder, darker lyrical concerns and a candid brutality at work.

‘I think it gives a very tangible sense of a certain time in my life,’ says Hutchison, enigmatically. Whatever lurks beneath the surface, America has been lapping it up: ‘The US has a really romantic notion of Scotland being their “Motherland” and as a result enjoy making a connection with our music and our faces,’ he explains. ‘The face connection is particularly enjoyable.’

The music connection, on the other hand, is the fruit of a live experience that has evolved since the earliest shows with just Hutchison into a live force to be reckoned with. They also have some surprises in store for the upcoming dates: ‘We managed to pin Whigfield down as the support act. She will play the same song seven times over. It will not be ‘Saturday Night’, unless the show is on a Saturday night.’

And as for FR themselves? ‘We plan to wear t-shirts and jeans and play our own brand of ‘noir folk’ or ‘folk rock’ or ‘nipple pop’ or whatever the kids call it these days . . .’

More: Frightened Rabbit, Indie, Sing the Greys, The Midnight Organ Fight, Previews (Music)