What do you get when you place 2000’s indie rock music on a modern backdrop? The answer can be found in Darling Vices’ debut EP, Fuel for the Fire. Full of charming surprises and instrumental hooks, Fuel for the Fire will feed the part of your soul that wishes all your old favorite bands had stayed together.
The EP kicks off with the hard-hitting, indie anthem, Trees, a track which Darling Vices’ Colin Frances describes as an exploration into, “the feeling of ‘what now?’ after coming out of a serious relationship, and working out how to get over it.” A jagged guitar line sets the scene as the song draws you into a swell of familiar, rock instrumentation. The production of this song plays with dynamics in a way that really grabs the listener, leaving just enough guitar to keep driving the track as Frances’ vocals take hold. Trees is the type of song that will grab you on the first listen and leave you singing, “it’s not getting warmer,” along with the chorus, at the top of your lungs.
All four songs on this EP are worthy of more than one listen, but the final track, Walk the Plank, is the most rhythmically thrilling. Written as, “a refusal to let someone take you for granted,” this song is equal parts punchy and danceable. Walk the Plank belongs on a live stage, with a crowd swaying and shouting along. It will, no doubt, fill the pirate-inspired-indie-anthem-shaped hole you didn’t know you had in your heart.
Darling Vices is a new endeavor for St.Alban’s musician, Colin Frances, whose recent move to Cardiff has pushed him to step back into the world of professional music, following a four-year hiatus. This EP is only the beginning for Frances, who has years of musicianship under his belt already and an exciting vision for where his project is headed. Lets hope that 2021 brings gigging back and we can finally catch a Darling Vices live show!
Fans of indie rock, a la early Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes, will love Fuel for the Fire. It’s safe to say that Darling Vices have hit the nail on the head when it comes to creating an EP that will have listeners singing aloud and dancing around whatever house they’re trapped inside this winter. There are sure to be great things on the horizon for Darling Vices.
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You can check out Fuel for the Fire HERE: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6fwxaEfDKleyqj7y3DZ4uJ?si=N8_8431mTCq7In_UAfTz6A&fbclid=IwAR2ee9hotnYt4qEdmUKYx8cAuiWVRgxfL0I7TUGHSSJiJgIHVf0RkxynA8o
