Drops
by Steven Adams
martincurtis
martincurtis
I particularly like the fact that if you Google 'Steve Adams Drops' you get results about that time Tony Adams dropped Steve Morrow. Subtle and deliberate.
Favorite track: Living In The Local Void.
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A Blaze On The Northern Beaches
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Drops via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 7 daysedition of 500Purchasable with gift card
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Drops via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 7 daysPurchasable with gift card
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1. |
Out To Sea
02:36
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Short sleeves, tight jeans
Don’t tell your mother where you’ve been
All the boys out to sea
They dance like it’s 1983
One bump, who's sad?
Tucked in shirt like someone’s dad
All the boys to sea
All the girls and their boundaries
Cold hands in the car outside
No one loses, no one tries
Five days that you spend apart
No one dies of a broken heart
Smart shoes, smart hair
Swaggering in midprice underwear
All the boys out to sea
All the girls and their alchemy
Soft drinks, soft eyes
Dancing as a means to qualify
All the boys out to sea
How to claim a victory
Cold hands in the car outside
No one loses if no one tries
Five days that you spend apart
No one dies of a broken heart
a broken heart
a broken heart
a broken heart
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2. |
Living In The Local Void
03:59
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Every morning in the local void
We make a choice about the day ahead
Knowing that we're up against the clock
The little battles inside our heads
The breadcrumb trail in the labyrinth
The notes we left for ourselves
As if the rock knows what's under it
As if the future was a monolith
And the void was our dearest old friend
I’m not asking you
I’m not telling you
I’m just showing you
What you already know
There’s nothing here
There’s nothing here
There’s nothing here
And you’ll never get tired of living in the local void
How could you ever get tired of living in the local void?
Every morning in the local void
Another chance to start again
New broom clean sheet blank slate
A way to erase the past
And build something beautiful
Looking up and never looking back
As if the clock was a sentinel
Instead of something that we bow down to
And the void was avoidable and kind
I’m not asking you
I’m not telling you
I’m just showing you
What you already know
There’s no one here
There’s no one here
There’s no one here
And you’ll never get tired of living in the local void
How could we ever get tired of living in the local void?
We will never get tired of living in the local void
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3. |
Moderation
03:37
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see me coming
maybe don’t say my name
all things in moderation
reading the menu
checking the rules
a two pint hero
with the half-pill blues
still a long way from the edge
both hands on the wheel at all times
speed up past the funhouse in those sensible shoes
every night's a school night
eyes in the middle distance
hands where I can see them
quarter past nine quarter to three
change down to second
park up for a breather
too much excitement
could break a believer
still a long way from the edge
both hands on the wheel at all times
speed up past the funhouse in those sensible shoes
every night's a school night
see me coming
maybe don't say my name
all things in good time
looking both ways
check my flies for a breach
suburban wingman
too pale for a beach
still a long way from the edge.
both hands on the wheel at all times
speed up past the funhouse in those sensible shoes
every night's a school night
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4. |
Heads Keep Rolling
02:21
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you put all that stuff in your head
and now you’re licking your wounds
and the well is dry
look outside
all the heads keep rolling away
all the heads keep rolling
it’s a terrible shame
let the pity pour down
can you swallow your spite?
every day is a new surprise
all the heads keep rolling away
all the heads keep rolling
all the radios switching off
and the wallets all folded up
the city comes tumbling down
and the fires burn out the sky
and all the heads keep rolling away
all the heads keep rolling
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5. |
Making Holes
03:32
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I keep digging the same hole
And I’ve been wondering how deep it will go
If I don’t stop and I keep going down
I’ll be miles below
That is how deep I could go
Making holes everywhere I go
Making holes
I keep digging the same hole
And now I’m wondering
How deep I can go
If I don’t stop I could keep going down
till I'm miles below
That is how deep I can go
Making holes everywhere I go
Making holes
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6. |
Pas Moi
02:26
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Maybe I’m not wired right
I’m unsurprised by the lack of wonder
Sometimes I can’t see my eyes
I don’t remember how to breathe underwater
Every day in the void is a blessing
I’m working on a saviour complex
And from this, the penultimate collection
Feet up eyes down it’s been a blast
And I’m like oh not me / pas moi
But maybe I’m not wired right
I’m underwhelmed by the wealth of choices
We lose great art to compromise
And stuff that helps us to get to heaven
But maybe I’m not wired right
Can’t break an egg without faking regret
All the guestlist are lost to me
Now I live in an empathy vacuum
And I’m like oh not me / pas moi
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7. |
Holiday Casual
03:15
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We're in for heavy weather
we stayed up late last night
holding it together
trying to keep it light
Let’s burn our lips on the coffee
and laugh about the old days
about how you got something on me
and other times we stayed up late
how could it be casual? it’s never casual
In the autumn/winter collection
with my head in the third world war
in the breakfast room of the hotel
sit in silence and settle the score
We take a walk down to the harbour
find something else to be thinking about
maybe to see something new or familiar
maybe to shake the old feeling out
How could it be casual? It’s never casual
You can’t go anywhere forever
You take yourself with you wherever you go
I know I said it before now I’ll say it again:
You can’t go anywhere forever
You take yourself with you wherever you go.
I know I’ve said it before I just said it again
How could it be casual? It’s never casual
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8. |
Fascists
04:08
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Do we drink to their deaths?
Do we dance when they’re gone?
Are we bigger than that?
No we’re better than that
Do we celebrate their passing?
Will we party when they pass on?
Or just the tip of a hat
A little skip in our steps
Do we drink to their deaths?
Do we dance on their graves?
Our sighs of relief
Deep and sincere
Alexander
Jacob
Lawrence the actor
Katie
Juliet
Isabel
Arron and Jim and Andy
go to hell
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9. |
I Tried To Keep It Light
02:44
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we were kissing cousins we were ships in the night
it was supposed to be a secret, I don’t remember why
your story’s safe with me, don’t let that trouble your mind
last time I saw you you looked like a vampire
maybe that was me, I used to be unreliable
who feels safe with who? since when was that the point?
worse things could happen
I don’t know how
give me time
last time I saw you I thought we were rivals
maybe that was me I used to be irresponsible
who feels safe with who? since when was that the point?
we were kissing cousin, we were dancing in the dark
except I wasn’t dancing and you just fell apart
you were breaking into pieces, each one bigger than the last
worse things could happen
I don’t know how
give me time
I tried to keep it light
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10. |
Day Trip
03:33
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oh god, where did I go?
I’ve become someone I don’t know
I think it’s a good thing
I mean you read about the death of the self
you think it’s going to happen to somebody else
and then you’re bringing it home
I looked up
I got crushed
by the sky
I looked down
and I don’t
know why
I am not looking down again
I am not looking down again
oh god, now that I’m gone
I can forget about carrying on
this is all there is
no diamonds in the mine
no clues that I left behind
just a sliver of time
I looked up
I got crushed
by the sky
I looked down
and I don’t
know why
I am not looking down again
I am not looking down again
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11. |
Cheap Wine Sad Face
03:53
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For every heart that breaks
There’s another one in pieces
We all make mistakes
I don’t want to see you like this
Wasting cheap wine on your sad face
We were both alone
And sometimes when you need a friend
You forget the things you know
But I don’t want to leave you like this
Wasting cheap wine on your sad face
I put my mind to something
And I was trying to trying to remember
I was sitting in a house or something
I put my mind to
For every heart that breaks
There’s another one in pieces
We all make mistakes
I don’t want to see you like this
Wasting cheap wine on your sad face
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about
“A national musical treasure" The Guardian
Steven Adams, formerly of The Broken Family Band releases new album DROPS on Fika Recordings in November 2023.
Since calling time on TBFB at the height of their success, Adams has released half a dozen albums under various names (Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), his witty, incisive lyrics and melodic sensibilities taking in DIY indie rock, folky introspection, and off-kilter pop hooks.
Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London.
“Every record I’ve made has been in a hurry of some sort” says Adams of his new album, “and with this one I took my time”. DROPS is the first album to be credited to him as a solo artist since 2016’s Old Magick, his first new music since 2020, and his noisiest record to date.
Armed with a new batch of material, he began by upping sticks to the Welsh countryside to experiment with drummer Daniel Fordham and bassist David Stewart - both formerly of psych oddballs The Drink. The trio then took the songs to Big Jelly, a converted chapel on the south coast, with co-producer Simon Trought (Comet Gain, Johnny Flynn, The Wave Pictures) to lay down the basic tracks for DROPS.
Eschewing a full band set up (“I wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time”), recording sessions in East London followed with Laurie Earle (Absentee) on guitar and Michael Wood (Hayman Kupa Band, Michaelmas) on keyboards.
Adams then took the recordings home and to the French countryside, to work alone.“I finally got my head around home recording in 2020, while things were a bit quiet. Once I worked out how to record things I realised I didn’t have to think about time. I could let the songs evolve and change once we had the basic tracks down. After a while I started to think of them as paintings; trying something one morning, painting over it in the afternoon and attempting something completely different… it was about enjoying the process, making some bangers, playing around... and giving Simon the producer a mess to sort out when it came to mixing the record". Whenever Tom from Fika Recordings checked in to see how the album was progressing Adams would reply, “it’s taking ages but it’ll sound like it was recorded in an afternoon”.
The result is a dynamic and spirited collection of songs, with Adams's love of 90/00s US underground rock (Pavement's Bob Nastanovich is a fan) to the fore.
DROPS is a sonically compelling piece of work: from bleak/exultant opener Out to Sea and the motorik Living in the Local Void to the weirdly funereal Fascists (where Adams imagines the “little skip in our steps” that we’ll have upon outliving some baddies), and Day Trip's psychedelia in miniature. There are also moments of tenderness: the avalanche of empathy on closing track Cheap Wine Sad Face, and I Tried to Keep it Light’s “worse things could happen… I don’t know how, but give me time”.
Adams says: “I'm preoccupied by the passing of time and the way it affects how we feel. This record is about time and bewilderment and trying to make sense of things".
“…astonishing tenderness in its simplicity … brilliant lyrics.” Q Magazine
“…the tunes are instant and uplifting, but the real wallop comes from the lyrical imagery.” The Guardian
“…barbed modern life chronicles.” UNCUT
Steven Adams, formerly of The Broken Family Band releases new album DROPS on Fika Recordings in November 2023.
Since calling time on TBFB at the height of their success, Adams has released half a dozen albums under various names (Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), his witty, incisive lyrics and melodic sensibilities taking in DIY indie rock, folky introspection, and off-kilter pop hooks.
Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London.
“Every record I’ve made has been in a hurry of some sort” says Adams of his new album, “and with this one I took my time”. DROPS is the first album to be credited to him as a solo artist since 2016’s Old Magick, his first new music since 2020, and his noisiest record to date.
Armed with a new batch of material, he began by upping sticks to the Welsh countryside to experiment with drummer Daniel Fordham and bassist David Stewart - both formerly of psych oddballs The Drink. The trio then took the songs to Big Jelly, a converted chapel on the south coast, with co-producer Simon Trought (Comet Gain, Johnny Flynn, The Wave Pictures) to lay down the basic tracks for DROPS.
Eschewing a full band set up (“I wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time”), recording sessions in East London followed with Laurie Earle (Absentee) on guitar and Michael Wood (Hayman Kupa Band, Michaelmas) on keyboards.
Adams then took the recordings home and to the French countryside, to work alone.“I finally got my head around home recording in 2020, while things were a bit quiet. Once I worked out how to record things I realised I didn’t have to think about time. I could let the songs evolve and change once we had the basic tracks down. After a while I started to think of them as paintings; trying something one morning, painting over it in the afternoon and attempting something completely different… it was about enjoying the process, making some bangers, playing around... and giving Simon the producer a mess to sort out when it came to mixing the record". Whenever Tom from Fika Recordings checked in to see how the album was progressing Adams would reply, “it’s taking ages but it’ll sound like it was recorded in an afternoon”.
The result is a dynamic and spirited collection of songs, with Adams's love of 90/00s US underground rock (Pavement's Bob Nastanovich is a fan) to the fore.
DROPS is a sonically compelling piece of work: from bleak/exultant opener Out to Sea and the motorik Living in the Local Void to the weirdly funereal Fascists (where Adams imagines the “little skip in our steps” that we’ll have upon outliving some baddies), and Day Trip's psychedelia in miniature. There are also moments of tenderness: the avalanche of empathy on closing track Cheap Wine Sad Face, and I Tried to Keep it Light’s “worse things could happen… I don’t know how, but give me time”.
Adams says: “I'm preoccupied by the passing of time and the way it affects how we feel. This record is about time and bewilderment and trying to make sense of things".
“…astonishing tenderness in its simplicity … brilliant lyrics.” Q Magazine
“…the tunes are instant and uplifting, but the real wallop comes from the lyrical imagery.” The Guardian
“…barbed modern life chronicles.” UNCUT
credits
released November 10, 2023
Players: Steven Adams, Laurie Earle,Daniel Fordham, David Stewart, Michael Wood, Simon Trought
Engineers: Simon Trought, Steven Adams, Michael Wood, Daniel Fordham
Mixing and mastering: Simon Trought at Soup Studios
Art: Tom Crawford
Design: Tom Ashton
Lettering: Dan Hillier
Image reproduction: Richard Deal
Hosts: Mikey Collins, Al Harle, Sadie Butler, Anna Butler, Simon Butler, Jude Rogers, Claire Palfreyman, Neil Palfreyman, Lucy Hurst
Recorded at Big Jelly, Soup Studios, Hackney Road Studios, La Cour du Liège, Le Vernet-Chaméane, Woodshed, Monnow Log, The Funhouse
Songs: Steven Adams
Players: Steven Adams, Laurie Earle,Daniel Fordham, David Stewart, Michael Wood, Simon Trought
Engineers: Simon Trought, Steven Adams, Michael Wood, Daniel Fordham
Mixing and mastering: Simon Trought at Soup Studios
Art: Tom Crawford
Design: Tom Ashton
Lettering: Dan Hillier
Image reproduction: Richard Deal
Hosts: Mikey Collins, Al Harle, Sadie Butler, Anna Butler, Simon Butler, Jude Rogers, Claire Palfreyman, Neil Palfreyman, Lucy Hurst
Recorded at Big Jelly, Soup Studios, Hackney Road Studios, La Cour du Liège, Le Vernet-Chaméane, Woodshed, Monnow Log, The Funhouse
Songs: Steven Adams
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Fika Recordings UK
Welcome to Fika Recordings! We're a London based DIY record label, releasing glorious indiepop, folk and more...
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