Frekltan: ‘Time To Care (Baillie Jnr Remix)

Frekltan: ‘Time To Care (Baillie Jnr Remix)

Ah, man. It’s such a shame you’re not going to be in a club any time soon, because ‘Time To Care’, simply put, bangs.

Cribbing a bassline which nods to Scottish twiddler Mylo, this is a track which sizzles with confidence and sign-of-the-times lyricism which never borders on preachiness.

If the vocals feel familiar, it’s because they are. Joe Hearty (Copy Haho)’s Frekltan project is the first music we’ve heard from him in quite a while now, when once his Stonehaven-born band were mentioned in the same breath as Frightened Rabbit, Los Campesinos! and – funnily enough – Dananananaykroyd, whose former vocalist John Baillie Jnr (now of fantastic R&B outfit Bossy Love), brings elasticity and danceability to a vocal focussed on fighting apathy.

Balancing a tone which brings personal reflection into a zeitgeisty narrative, Hearty’s lyrics could just as easily be yelled by the raspiest punk singer, yet there’s an overarching cool which keeps the track moving elegantly. It calls to mind his work with Copy Haho (specifically ‘This Retro Decade’) with lyrics offering clinical insights on politics and culture without ever verging into cloying territory. It’s more a wise word than a sandwich board.

As ever, Baillie Jnr’s production is beyond reproach. There’s an urgent snap to the percussion, with siren-like synths coating a bouncing, reverberated bass. Matched with Hearty’s learned delivery, the urgency of the production balances perfectly. It’s a match of energies which we can only hope bears more fruit.

‘Time To Care’ is out on 4th September. Frekltan’s ‘Where You Are’, came out on August 7th, FFO Jens Lekman, Perfume Genius.

[Euan Davidson]

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