‘ZILLA’
Sortie le 3 Mars 2017

SO RECORDINGS / La Baleine 

En concert le 14 Mars Les Etoiles à Paris

‘ZILLA’ is the brilliant new album from Fenech-Soler, the bold, shimmering, eclectic pop of ‘ZILLA’ heralds a thrilling new chapter for the Northamptonshire band, now a duo comprising brothers Ben and Ross Duffy. Loaded with personality and pockets of experimentation, ‘ZILLA’  – named after a close friend – is chock full of positive and upbeat pop songs. ‘Kaleidoscope’, the opening track on the recent ‘Kaleidoscope EP’, was premiered by Huw Stephens on Radio 1 and described by Noisey as “3:39 of pure joy.”

The seeds for ‘ZILLA’s creation were first sewn at the end of a lengthy tour in support their 2013 album ‘Rituals’ (which featured the singles ‘All I Know’ and ‘Magnetic’), the follow-up to 2010’s self-titled debut, which collected together early tracks such as ‘Lies’ and ‘Stop And Stare’. Having landed a Q Awards nomination, toured with everyone from Kelis to Miike Snow to Robyn, successfully battled cancer (Ben was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2011) and played headline shows all over the world – including Shepherd’s Bush Empire at the end of their last major UK tour – the band needed a break.

However, Ben and Ross chose to go to LA demoing immediately with REM and U2 collaborator Jacknife Lee. While those early sessions were fruitful, there was a nagging sense that the catalyst for the album’s creation hadn’t been discovered. So the brothers headed home, swapping the heady extremes of Los Angeles for a small farming village in Northamptonshire, where they built a makeshift studio.

Inspired by disco, old soul vocal harmony groups and an unwavering love of pop music, the pair steadily built up a collection of their most vibrant songs yet. While previous albums have seen them collaborate with the likes of Tim Goldsworthy, Galantis and Starsmith, ‘ZILLA’ was a much more organic album, with most of it self-produced.

The fruits of their labour can be heard in the textured mesh of ‘Grace’, an oddly undulating near-instrumental that’s awash with slowly expanding synths. As with most of the album, it’s both instant and strangely experimental. That sense of trusting your creative instincts can be heard on the synth-lead banger, ‘On Top’ and the atmospheric soul shimmer of ‘Night Time TV’. ‘Kaleidoscope’, the album’s opening song and lead single, is a buoyant ode to the pure joy of love that recalls the streamlined indie-pop of The Whitest Boy Alive.

While the first half of the album focuses on a lighter mood, the album’s latter songs shift in tone slightly. Perhaps one of its best moments is the ballad ‘Be Someone’, a song that borrows from those blustery 80’s soundtrack ballads and creates something deliciously modern. Or there’s the epic glide of the album’s closing song, ‘From Afar’, which steadily builds to an orchestral crescendo.

A glorious, unashamed pop album that will sound incredible in a live scenario, ‘ZILLA’ is the sound of a band confidently coming to terms with their sound while steadily refining it. This is the album that takes Fenech-Soler to another level.

Fenech-Soler ‘ZILLA’ tracklisting:
1. Kaleidoscope
2. On Top
3. Night Time TV
4. Conversation
5. Zilla I
6. Grace
7. Cold Light
8. Undercover
9. Touch
10. Zilla II
11. Be Someone
12. From Afar