Malaysian indiepop darlings - Ferns - are back with their second album 'Fairweather Friends'. It comes out almost four years after the acclaimed 'On Botany', that in 2007 created a languid, dreamy and atmospheric world where green gardens and fields were the scenery for an idyllic and deeply melancholic combination of indiepop, shoegaze delicacy and layers of sound contrastating with whispery vocals.
If 'On Botany' was an album for sunsets and contemplation, 'Fairweather Friends' is perfect for mid-afternoons spent in the middle of the city and where you can be surrounded by people.
It's great to see a band that left such a strong impression with their first album come back years after with songs that have their DNA and yet surprise you with new perspectives and colors.
'Fairweather Friends' keeps the fragility of delicate melodies of Ferns' debut album but this time the layers of instruments give space to a more clear, acoustic and urban aesthetic. My end of the year lists consider albums released between Novembers, that's why this album was absent in my 2011 list.
The release of their second album proved that Ferns is a band to watch, listen and feel. Their indie pop feels fresh and evocative.
You can stream their albums on bandcamp. Below, you'll find a link and how can you get the album.
Ferns is a band from Malaysia. Their sound is ultra dreamy, warm, filled with Chan's whispered, relaxing vocals and an astonishing collection of beautiful melodies soaked in delicate reverbs.
Pure, pure, pure heartfelt and heartwarming indie pop.
In 2007 they released On Botany, the best album of that year. A few days ago, their second album - Fairweather Friends - was released. Pretty sure you'll see it on the best-of-2012 list of this blog and a few others.
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ferns is this 5 piece act from kuala lumpur (malaysia) that, back in 2007, left indiepoppers completely in love with their debut album 'on botany'.
fast forward three years and here we are: me, writing this article; you reading it and ferns preparing the release of their new album entitled 'fairweather friends'.
the album will feature 8 new songs:
01. missing lyrics
02. dismay
03. miss stormcloud
04. a funny feelin'
05. anti social scene
06. hey ok
07. i should be having more fun
08. when you fall sleep
before we talk with warren, check the preview of 'hey ok', one of the songs featured on their new album... the song is not yet finished.on warren's words: "that's a demo / work- in- progress yeah?".
interview with warren... 1. tell us a bit about your history... how it all began… and where the name ‘ferns’ comes from?
well, we're a bunch of long-time friends from kuala lumpur, malaysia who got together with the simple aim of making catchy, interesting pop music. we'd all been playing music for many years with a diverse background in loud sounds - metal, hardcore, indie-rock - you name it. in our slightly advanced ages, we decided that pop was the way to go for the sake of our eardrums and sanity :)
when we first started out, there was no scene or bands of a similar ilk to us at the time over here. indiepop, twee and whatnot were pretty much unheard of as well. so we pretty much did what we thought was cool and interesting and hoped that people would like it. some years down the line, the situation's different. due to the internet making everything more accessible, i believe the asian indiepop scene has been growing considerably. though I'd have to say that malaysia is still lagging behind, as we're still pretty much the sole representative :)
the name ferns came about because we looking for the most ubiquitous yet nondescript thing possible. and we dig one-word names, kinda like wilco - whom we love!
02. if your music were a planet, what would it look like?
a lovely green, verdant earth - a couple of million years ago before bi-pedal humanoids crawled out from the primordial muck and took to throwing their garbage all over the lawn.
03. name a few influences (music, film, comic book, historic figures… anything).
musically, we've always mentioned influences that nobody ever thinks we actually sound like - mercury rev, flaming lips, grandaddy, wilco, and of course any form non pre-fabricated pop music.
relax. you're about to hear a calm, loving, whispery album that will keep you quite amused, impressed, in love... if you're an indiepop kid you'll be in a zen state. so ferns is this band that comes from malaysia and they, in fact, have the elements that most of the indiepop/twee bands from asia have... but wait a minute, it's more than that: gentle, with no fear on using shimmering guitars; extremely melodic with twists in almost every song ranging from slow crying guitars to rough hooks. the vocals are always whispery and it is an album about love and heartbreaking with sometimes brilliant lyrics like in 'dear derelict': "of all that was fair nothing remains/ all our conviction made fiction/ and we're to blame/ curse out their names/ merchants and pirates the same/ we ain't no better/but we'll enjoy our fame"; or in 'when we die': "and when we die/ do all our hopes survive?/ will all the fires in the sky/ extinguish with our dreams alive?" ferns is lullaby with cristaline guitars and whispers in your ear. refined melancholia to those with forever hungry hearts. this is a mature and extremely consistent debut album for sleepless nights and walks with no clear direction.
01. this sweet refrain 02. disaster strikes again 03. wistful thinking 04. the western front 05. dear derelict 06. love in a handful of beans 07. i won't forget 08. citadel 09. death of a lifetimes 10. when we die
here's 'this sweet refrain' video by fairuz sulaiman:
