Family Stereo, the recording alias of singer-songwriter Blake Watt (son of Everything But The Girl’s Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt), will release his debut album The Thread on 31st July via Bella Union. He has today shared the second album single, Waiting On Nina, accompanied by a second visualiser from Bora Tosun-Stone, whose watery setting seems perfectly timed for this heatwave we currently experiencing.
The track is country-tinged folk-rock built around birth and innocence — the arrival of new human life, and the value of staying open to new parts of yourself as you age. Dov Sikowitz’s lapsteel gives it a luminous edge, the kind of finely judged detail that accrues across the album.
“I think my writing has been getting more pared-back as I’ve progressed,” Watt says. “I find more and more that simple is better. I love telling a story in the simplest way or conveying a feeling in the simplest way, with not too many frills.” This approach works wonders on ‘Waiting on Nina’, the space giving the track a vastness that draws you in.
The record grew out of a long-distance relationship, though Watt avoids literalism. “I like asking questions more than answering them in lyrics,” he says. “I’m trying to capture a feeling, or a sense of not understanding a feeling and trying to get to grips with that feeling.”
The Thread was recorded over nine months in the north London studio of producer Sam Hodder-Williams, who handled string arrangements and played across acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and synths. Collaborators include Pendo Masote on violin, Tom Allan on banjo, Ella Bleakley on backing vocals and George Vaux on bass.
We’re really looking forward to hearing more – definitely one to keep on your radar.
Pre-Order The Thread: https://bfan.link/the-thread
Family Stereo play four UK headline shows in September:
Thursday 17th September — London — The Lexington
Tuesday 22nd September — Bristol — The Louisiana
Wednesday 23rd September — Manchester — Gullivers
Thursday 24th September — Glasgow — The Glad Cafe