Taken from their forthcoming and highly anticipated new album Hold Fast, Stick in the Wheel (singer Nicola Kearey, and guitarist/producer Ian Carter) have shared a video for album track Fake Away. Hold Fast is their third album which they will self-release on 21st August.
Hold Fast is the continuation of Stick In The Wheel’s sonic and immersive journey; ultimately it’s an album of stark contrasts that illuminates themes of hope and resistance, that interweaves traditional folklore with influences as wide as psychedelia, electronica & folk protest music. Having been anointed the ‘medieval Kraftwerk’, both Carter’s and Kearey’s early musical leanings were toward electronic music, jungle and dubstep. These days the band obsessively seek out historical and traditional sources, then weaving in their own experiences of growing up in working-class East London. In an era of stoked nationalism, Kearey and Carter have created a conscious musical work that looks at England’s cultural heritage afresh, highlighting the centuries-old systematic oppression of the working-class. They look back at the lessons and stories our ancestors taught us, showing their ongoing relevance to today. “Nothing changes, we’re all still in the same situation being ruled by the aristocracy, where it’s one rule for them and another for us”, says Carter.
Lead single Fake Away shows how things are still the same, whether you’re hustling now or 200 years ago. Adapted from ‘Rookwood’, a Victorian novel/play by Harrison Ainsworth, the words are an almost impenetrable street slang. Kearey’s vocals take center stage behind a rhythmically frantic backing. “I wanted it to sound like an 1800s street musician, a mix of Romani, Yiddish and the traditional music of these islands. It’s important the music reflects the layers of meaning in the words, story, and the cultural history that they represent. If you’re from London, it’s part of your history,” Carter explains.
Hold Fast was written and recorded in the six months preceding the global pandemic. As the impending situation closed in, there was “a real sense of urgency, how it was crucial to get it right, a feeling that we can’t mess it up,” says Carter. With most of the work taking place at the band’s own studio, there was an intensity to the sessions, with Carter ultimately moving into the studio to produce and mix it as the world went into lock-down. Given the timing, the album’s key themes of struggle and seem salient now more than ever. Kearey says, “This record is about working hard in the face of adversity, focusing on the positive, questioning the canon and making an offering with hope and resilience for the future.”
TRACKS
- A Tree Must Stand In The Earth
- Budg & Snudg
- Top Knot
- Villon Song
- Gold So Red
- Fake Away
- Soldier Soldier
- Possible Reasons For Eventual Admission To The Asylum
- Drive The Cold Winter Away
- Nine Herbs Charm
- Forward
Pre-Order/Pre-Save Hold Fast: https://stickinthewheel.lnk.to/holdfast