Produced by Andy Savours (Black Country New Road, The Magic Gang, The Horrors) and mixed by Caesar Edmunds (Beach House, Wet Leg, Foals), FEET have released their second album ‘Make it Up’ via Submarine Cat Records – the band’s largest release since 2021 EP ‘Walking Machine’.
Consisting of 12 tracks, a handful of which have been previously released as singles, the album is a nod to the band’s quintessential sound first established with the renowned debut album ‘What’s Inside is More Than Just Ham’ (2019).
“I feel like we’ve got 12 complete songs on this album and not 12 ideas. We’ve made the FEET machine and now it’s a case of inserting the right idea and the output is a great song. Before, it felt a bit more like we were throwing s**t at the wall. This time round, everything feels a bit more refined.”
George Haverson, Vocalist.
Haverson later added in a press release: “We spent a great deal of time trying to define what we are as a band on this album”. As such, the band’s latest release is streaked with moments of intimacy and introspective emotion never before seen in the band’s prior releases, which more often than not boasted a tongue-in-cheek swagger.
Although, criticized by some for not delving into musical experimentation that so commonly coincides with a band’s later music (think Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino or Dylan’s electric guitar), there is something comforting in the way the band recycle the sound of their needling guitars, gnarly vocals and tambourine intermissions. It is what us original fans know best, and fell in love with in the first place – that classic 2010’s indie rock, pre-lockdown sound that projects us back in time to a sticky floored venue in Coventry with dripping pints served in actual glasses.
Pre-releases ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Sit Down’ evidence the band’s all-too-familiar energetic sound, earworm-worthy lyrics, addictive riffs and howling vocals delivered by their foot-stomping frontman George Haverson. Elsewhere, ‘Greasy Boy’ transforms itself into a mantra for the battered and bruised musician attempting to navigate an industry constantly observed by rolling, judgmental eyes.
While ‘Better Than Last’ lyrically explores the commonly felt need to change with each year and grow as an individual, ‘Truly Awful’, arguably the album’s most refreshing track, taps into the micro and personal, mapping a relationship between two individuals, simultaneously revealing a raw vulnerability in Haverson’s lyricism. ‘When You’re Feeling Strange’ features guitarists Harry Southerton and Callum Parker cheekily playing against each other. ‘Goodbye (So Long, Farewell) is darker with enhanced bass sections, a Fontaines-esque opening and brooding, resentful vocals that raise a middle finger to both the serious and frivolous.
2024 has a lot in store for FEET – the release of ‘Make it Up’ marks the beginning of a new journey for the band, who have been long-term favorites of indie music fans such as myself.
Haiku Review:
‘Make it Up’ is here
Featuring addictive riffs
And FEET’s classic sound.
‘Make it Up’ is out now. Purchase a copy via the band’s website, or stream on Spotify here:
