On previous albums they've seen the world through general observations, they've seen fear through someone else's eyes, but this is the first time FEWS have turned their gaze inwards to see themselves. The first seeds of GLASS CITY were already sown at the end of 2019. The self-released EP DOG began to take shape but gave way to more material than expected. After the band started their own record label, recorded everything themselves, and did almost all the work entirely on their own, the purification process was complete. Like washing the palette clean and starting over. The band also found great help in the newly recruited guitarist Jacob Olson from San Francisco based Useless Eaters.
"The goal with Glass City was to stay true to ourselves", the band explains. Musically, that direction has shaped FEWS into a rawer and more punk attitude, but honesty is most of all what permeates through the course of the album. The monolithic, ever-grinding opening track Yoga Instructor was born out of singer Frederick Rundqvist's first day in his new 14 square meter apartment in Malm?, where the bleak experience of disarray and insomnia is reflected in the stabbing, razor-sharp guitar melodies. Equally introspective is lead single MASSOLIT, an earthquake-like burst of the band's signature krautpunk about being in controlled chaos. An encapsulation of FEWS' best qualities, taken to their ultimate breaking point.
In the past, they've taken heavier topics and reworked them into tones of something more accessible, like on the million-streamed More Than Ever. This time, there's nothing polished or glossed over. The pumping motorik beast Get Out gives way to bassist Jay Clifton's sense of alienation during his early days in Malm?, where screaming into nothingness was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind, while the spine-chilling guitar harmonies reflect Clifton's inner panic perfectly. The honesty that FEWS convey makes GLASS CITY not only the band's most honest and personal work to date, but also their most mature and well-thought-out material yet.
Unlike previous albums recorded in London with Dan Carey (Fontaines D.C., Wet Leg), or written while on a European arena tour supporting the Pixies, the entire album was written and recorded in their current hometown of Malm? by Joakim Lindberg at Studio Sickan.
Released: April 2023
Cat: WSR114
Label: Welfare State
