Following on our exciting world premiere of the latest single from Berlin based fungazer Alexander Donat it’s time to dive into the new album in full. Each year he releases an album based on the experiences and creativity of his two daughters now aged nine and eleven. The release of a new Fir Cone Children album has become a bit of an event for me. It’s just not summer without it.
If you’re new to the Fir Cone Children sound, you’re entering a world full of life affirming energy. Donat describes it like this.
“The youthful sound of Fir Cone Children is all about a fast- paced, whooshy music that loves melodies, pop and hooks. It is comprised of naive and happy singing, high-pitched vocal harmonies, distorted and jangling guitars, snarling bass, head-over-heels hyperactive drumming. Stay young at heart, do it like the kids do: dance the jig of glee.”
Let’s follow his advice and dance on into the album.
The opening track is entitled ‘You Are My Animal’, a song about drawing parallels between his daughters love and compassion for her pet hamster and how we can express that in our human relationships. What strikes me immediately as a regular FCC listener his how mature and intricate the vocals have become. This could be a lost Arcade Fire song its that good.
‘Texting’ is next with its off-kilter keyboard drones and propulsive drumming. This is classic FCC. The dynamic energy is contagious and sweeps you up and drags you along for the ride. Again, there’s a noticeable intensification of the complexity of both the lyrics and vocal melody. This is incredibly satisfying and two songs in this album already has me won over.
Up next is the recent single ‘Diamond Dolphins’. The track begins with a joyful whooping in line with the exuberant guitar line. As always, the lyrics fall directly from the kids mouths and straight in to Donat’s songbook. “Diamond dolphins do their job. Taking down the mob”. The punk aesthetic of the song works so well in juxtaposition with the obvious love and affection he feels for his kids and their imaginations. You really feel included in the fun.
‘Youth Lagoon’ is something completely new for Fir Cone Children. The song has an eighties goth electro pop kinda vibe. It’s no less energetic but adds layers of shade where dappled light once would’ve been. This is the most radical shake up of the FCC aesthetic to date. It shows both that Donat himself is unafraid of exploring all musical avenues but also that his kids’ lives are becoming more complex as they grow. This could be my favourite song of his. It’s exceptional.
The album title pops up in the magical stomp that is ‘Witches Lab’. We explore the creation of the lab in the family cellar over a more laid-back groove than usual. Theres a element of Math Rock in the guitar lick over the verses before the wall of noise chorus featuring the witch’s incantation. It such good fun and is one you’ll go back to time and again.
We move into new wave territory next with ‘On The Prowl’. The guitar fractious and edgy like Donat has been possessed by Wilmo Johnson in places. The fuzz guitar line in the chorus is all consuming and swallows up the song before spitting us out the other side. It’s the final minute though that catches me in the feels every time. That vocal melody with have you punching the air.
The goth sound returns for ‘Malin (Start A Tradition), the tale of carrying a Christmas tree through snow. The music perfectly gets us in the winter mood with its icy, spiky guitar. As the song reaches its conclusion though it erupts into this celebratory, exultant melody that transports us from the snowy roads to the warmth of the Christmas party. This is another great example of Donat’s ability to perfectly recreate his world in music and welcome us in unreservedly.
‘Battery’ has a New York feel with its driving, forward leaning bassline and layered percussion. Vocally Donat is really pushing the boat out with at least three harmony lines going on at any time. It kinda reminds of something Sweeping Promises might do or maybe there’s a bit of DEHD in there too. Again, this is new territory for FCC and I’m finding it incredibly exciting to hear how nimble Donat has been in his writing.
The Donat girls are forming a rock band on ‘I Need An Amp And A Synth’. The frenetic drumming and thrashing guitars on here capture that youthful exuberance we’ve come to love in these songs. There some pretty impressive lung shredding screaming at the end which I was blown away by. Salutes Mr D.
The album comes to a close with the tale of cuddly toy election in the girls’ bedrooms. ‘Vote For Me’ is something else again. A laid-back walk through the candidates in the election set to the most beautifully sparse picked guitars. Each of the toys lays out their manifesto before the votes are cast and our winner is announced. I’ll not spoil the result for you. This is the perfect closing track for such a joyous album. As the song ends, we are left with and enormous sense of well being and hope for the future. That is thanks to two small girls and their amazing Dad!
Wow, that was yet another emotional ride through the imaginations of the Donat girls. There’s no escaping the fact that with Jig Of Glee he has taken his songwriting, musicianship and production skills up yet another level. Every year when I review the new FCC album, I say this but it stands saying again. The songs welcome you in and you lose yourself in the world they create in your imagination. That childlike exuberance truly is infectious and always makes me think that the world could do with more Alexander Donat’s. We should be so lucky.
Jig of Glee is out now and 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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