Over two albums and a handful of singles Edinburgh based Found have carved out a niche as experimental artists with big pop hearts. The Fidelities E.P. builds upon the electronic side of their magpie everything-including-the-kitchen-sink approach to song writing without losing their unnerving knack of throwing together catchy, warped pop songs. ‘Let Fidelity Break’ wouldn’t sound out of place on the Warp Records roster with its odd fractured beats and bleeping electronics combined with clattering percussion but at its core lies a warm hearted pop song with an adorably huggable chorus. Ziggy Campbell has an instantly recognisable voice while the lyrics could equally be about relationships or sound when he sings ‘Look around, look around / In every seedy corner and nook’.
Found are never afraid to look in the oddest of places for inspiration. ‘We’ll Never Make the Playlist’ sounds as though the band grew up listening to 80’s Streetsounds electro compilations with its stripped down keyboards and percussion combined with witty verses. They opening verse really stands out for me:
We’ve got no time for fucking around
We’re trying to run this business called Found
We’ll probably run it into the ground
Pay off our creditors with stupid sounds.
The ironic self-deprecation gives way to digs at bandwagon jumpers with ‘industry clout’ before the song collapses into a black hole of sound.
‘Freaky Freaky Chancer’ is more of an interlude than a fully fledged song, a downtempo sparse keyboard keeping Campbell’s voice company. ‘This Way By Design’, in contrast, is a full-on assault on your senses with its nagging, clipped guitars, stop-start rhythms, mad instrumental breakdowns and insanely catchy melodies. It seems to be part homage to, part piss-take of the electroclash scene with lyrics like ‘I need some direct action / Let’s do some love transaction’ before ending ‘Thank god we’re doing this by design’. It’s a spiky, cool song full of nervous energy and friction. ‘Freaky Freaky Raving’ is gentler and very much darker with its haunting keyboards and spacey, dubby feel augmented by a delicate vocal and pretty guitars. The addition of brass gives the song a rather gorgeous, almost heartbreaking ending, combining with swelling keyboards and guitars and Ziggy singing “I could be a good man’ as the song gently flows to a climax. ‘Tenoripin’ ends the E.P. with a fluid, underwater instrumental, all weird sounds but hypnotic and sweet.
The Fidelities E.P. isn’t a quantum leap in terms of change, it’s still recognisably Found, just that they are still restlessly moving in different directions without throwing off their identity. Long may they continue to move in mysterious ways. An excellent, eclectic and above all fun weird-pop record.