It’s at this time of the year I always watch my inbox closely. It’s around this time we get the next annual instalment of Alexander Donat’s Fir Cone Children project. This is a series of albums documenting his kids lives as they grow. The albums to date have been nothing short of life affirming, joyous escapism. As I predicted there it was. The new album called The Urge To Overtake Time.
This is album nine in the series and I was keen to find out what we can expect to hear on this album compared to the previous instalments. Here’s what the man himself had to say.
“Everything definitely evolves, it’s not just spending time on the playground anymore for my daughters, things are getting much more complex, and with that the music grows into new directions. I can see how it touches melancholic and even darker aspects sound-wise. They’re eight and ten years old, and they are nosy and curious human beings, it’s just natural to discover that not all things and people on our planet are nice. At their age they’re already further than I was back then.”
“Talking about the music, I tried to sound more relaxed, looser, airier, especially in respect of my singing style. The predecessor album was way rawer, very direct and over the top (on purpose).”
Sounds like my kinda album. Without any further ado let’s dive in.
We open on the punky ‘Time Needs An Upgrade’. That Fir Cone Children exuberance is evident from the get go with a spoken word section “We are late and the clocks not right” bringing Sparks to mind. The sonic palate is both jangly and jarring at the same time. This is a tale of a realisation that time is a fixed constant and how frustrating that can be to a child’s inquisitive mind. That frustration is borne out in the vocal delivery and frenetic guitar strumming. Great start to this chapter.
‘Snowblack’ is a darker proposition altogether. Donat’s vocal more direct and less playful. Guitars ranging from the post punk sharp chords to shoegaze wall of glide guitar. The contrast between the melodic vocals and helter-skelter guitar in the chorus is just inspired.
Next, we head into pure shoegaze territory with ‘Another You’. The wall of noise as we head into the opening moments is just sublime. Donat’s playful delivery now replaced with something more grounded and reflective. This is the first signs that this album is showing signs of real life starting to creep into our protagonists’ minds.
That swirly shoegaze sound continues into ‘Fills Up Every Inch’. When this song kicks in, it kicks hard! This song is so dynamic; playing the glide guitar up against an impenetrable wall of fuzz. Theres a tangible menace in Donats’ delivery that adds to the song’s grandeur. This is undoubtably my favourite Fir Cone Children moment to date, never mind being my album highlight.
The fun returns with ‘Sydney & I’ a tale of friendship that lasts the distance. Whilst we still have that fuzzy soundscape beneath it all is the catchiest pop song. As always when it comes to these types of songs it’s in the chorus, we see Donat’s skill as a songwriter. How anyone has so many killer hooks baffles me.
‘The Inability to Raise the Left Corner of My Mouth’ whilst being an unwieldly song title is anything like a slouch. It’s a nimble number built of a chugging guitar and pounding drum beat that forms the foundation the whole song sits on. Theres a lot to enjoy from the vocal layers and harmonies to the synth parts that punctuate each line.
The pace gets turned up to the max as we launch headlong into ‘Let’s Defy Everyday Life’. This is classic Fir Cone Children with a more mature edge. It sounds very much like eavesdropping on kids’ conversation as they play. This is pure imagination and the escapism is welcome.
The oddly titled ‘Sandwich Toast, Belly Ghost’ is next with its goth-tinged instrumentation really amps that darkness that is slowly encroaching on this album. The guitars are the absolute stars here, always on the edge of chaotic feedback and howling into the night.
We take the pace way down now with ‘It Feels Complete’. This is the starkest most gloom driven song on the album. It has real Joy Division moments even the darker Cure material influences this song. Donat has really outdone himself here. I love a lot about this track but what I love the most is its pace. He really takes his time allowing the song to reveal itself at its own pace. Trust me when I say, the final minute is sheer genius.
The album closes out with ‘Spider School’, the perfect balance between that Fir Cone Children childlike abandon and the more mature mood of this album. Again, the chorus is king with the song closing on a chant along and a screaming crescendo. Pure exhilaration.
If you purchase this album digitally there’s a surprise for you in the form of a bonus track. Fir Cone Children covers The Cure. I’ll leave that as a nice surprise for you to check out over on Bandcamp.
I’ve lived with this album a while now. It’s a weird one for me. I’m a big fan of Fir Cone Children and it’s the unbridled joy in the songs that makes me come back to listen again and again. This time that joy has been tempered by the world starting to encroach on the lives of the Donat kids. As a dad myself maybe I’m projecting on to my own kids here. You don’t want your kids to have to deal with reality. That’s our job as parents. Reality comes for us all unfortunately and perhaps that’s what I’m picking up this time.
The upside to all this is we get a new, more direct and atmospheric album that evolves Fir Cone Children for another year. These kids don’t stop growing and neither will this project and that, right there, fills me with joy. Dammit Donat, you did it again!
The Urge To Overtake Time is out now and is available from the Blackjack Illuminist Bandcamp page. You can grab it on tape, CD or digitally.
You can follow Fir Cone Children on social media here….
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