Easily one of the finest purveyors of outsider pop that this island has to offer right now, the band known as Fred return this fortnight with their much anticipated fourth record Leaving My Empire, and it’s possibly their strongest effort to date. Three years on from the release of the sublime slice of summery goodness that was Go God Go, the Fred of 2011 are slightly older, a little bit more ambitious and – reassuringly – still as skilled at crafting a memorable melody as ever.
Recorded in Montreal, sonically Leaving My Empire features more than a few nods to the city’s fertile indie scene, but while the likes of ‘Eleven’ may have the odd hint of Arcade Fire’s grandiose clatter, this is anything but derivitive. Instead, producer Howard Bilerman has helped the five-piece flesh out their unmistakable sound: songs like ‘If Not Now When’ and ‘Fears And Remedies’ see Fred continue to carve out a niche all of their very own. ‘As You See’ (which features a truck-load of surprising hooks) and ‘Trial By Fire’ (which sounds a little bit like a tune from ‘70s-era Sesame Street) vie for contention as the defining moment on the record, but pretty much every track on offer is a joy to listen to. Leaving My Empire is a very fine record indeed.