Big Stir Records is proud to announce the upcoming release of EARWORMS, an all-new album from Croydon, England-based singer, songwriter, producer and all-around musical renaissance man NICK FRATER. The record, featuring the first single “It's All Rumours,” is out on vinyl LP, CD, and streaming on all digital platforms November 19 and is up for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com and everywhere now. It's ten new tracks from Nick and an all-star supporting cast, each one delivering on the title's promise of unshakable melodies and Frater's reputation as one of the most reliably delightful tunesmiths on the global pop rock scene.

To be sure, titling the record Earworms is an audacious move even for an artist coming off a rapid-fire pair of widely celebrated albums: 2020's BSR release Fast & Loose (recipient of a five star review in Shindig! Magazine) and Full Fathom Freight Train which raked in Year's Best nods including International Pop Overthrow's Album of the Year honor in 2019. But it's not hyperbole: those high standards notwithstanding, the hooks on the new album have extraordinary sticking power, taken into timeless territory by Frater's astute choice of musical settings.

“I wanted to make an album that sounds and feels like a lost treasure from the mid '70s melodic rock scene,” says Nick. “I’ll leave it to your ears to decide, but I think we got pretty close!” Having deliberately chosen a sonic palette from that era and then combining the vibe with his songwriting chops and lyrical wit, Frater has made a record that could have been found in the racks alongside Breakfast in America, In Colour or The Stranger. You can hear it in the infectiously crunchy drive of the single, the AM-ready electric piano balladry of “Star-Crossed,” and the sweet jangle-meets-doo-wop confection called “Buggin' Out”... and in the sunny harmonies that adorn Frater's dry English wit across the entire record.

Recording at home in Croydon and prevented by lockdowns from calling on his regular band and studios, Frater has instead pulled together an impressive coterie of home recordists spread across the UK and USA from his impressive Rolodex of collaborators. And what a virtual band they add up to, featuring a who’s who of guest musicians including Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish/Beck), Darian Sahanaja (Wondermints/Brian Wilson), Mike Randle (Love/Baby Lemonade), Dana Countryman, and many more from the Big Stir family and beyond.

While the musical muscle helps Frater nail the radio-ready vibe, it's his vocal delivery and gift with a turn of phrase that makes Earworms a record for the modern era. The title of the heavy-6/8 outing “Who Says I Need A Plan At All?” alone speaks to the clever wordplay to be expected here. There's also the Steely Dan-tinged “Desert Ships”, based around myths and legends of the Californian deserts from stories of Viking longboats being found stranded miles inland by pioneers, to Gram Parson’s body being stolen and driven out to Joshua Tree. Elsewhere, witheringly comedic takedowns of both Ayn Rand and religious fundamentalism dot the melodic but blistering “Not Born Again” (with Nick Bertling pounding the drums). And who but Frater would wrap a breezy shuffle like “Lucky Strike” around the lyrical hook “I wish I knew what you’re thinking, it’d save me from asking and pissing you off”?

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but it bears mention that the cover artwork here is wonderful, shown off to best effect on the LP edition. The intricate sleeve design by Adam Mallett is a collage of images from Frater’s life and music, woven into a hand drawn giant ear, evoking some of the vibe of the Revolver cover but hinting at the psychedelic and magpie-like sonics on the record. The pitch-perfect aesthetic spills over into the music video for “It's All Rumours,” which is rife with visual in-jokes every bit as clever as Frater's lyrics for the record.

It all adds up to a stack of tracks that's simultaneously one of the most instantly accessible and soulfully quirky collections Big Stir has ever been honored to offer. The album is destined to amass at least as many accolades as its predecessors, but more importantly, it'll keep listeners compulsively humming its tunes tunes for days on end just as its title promises... and thanking Nick Frater for the Earworms.

BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled to announce the September 19 release of FAST & LOOSE, the new album from Croydon, England-based musical Renaissance man NICK FRATER! The new record (his fifth “proper” album) will be issued worldwide on CD and digital formats, and is available for pre-0rder at www.bigstirrecords.com/store now. Apropos to its title, it's a full throttle collection brimming with the hooks, harmonies and sophisticated arrangements his fans have come to expect, and bubbling with a freshness and energy that'll captivate new listeners immediately as one of the UK's best-kept secrets steps onto a wider international stage.

The follow up to 2019’s critically acclaimed Full Fathom Freight-Train, Nick Frater’s latest album Fast & Loose was written and recorded in a burst of creativity in the weeks leading up to and following becoming a dad. “It might sound unexpected, but spending many hours each day rocking and singing to a baby is actually a great way to write songs!” says Frater. The result is a collection of 11 hook-filled power-pop songs. Fans of Jellyfish, Cheap Trick, and The Beach Boys will find much to love here, but it's Frater's own personality and mastery of melody and arrangement that'll hook them for good.

The new record leaves the gate with the title track, a rollicking retro-flavored instrumental showcasing Frater's period-perfect mastery of '60s and '70s sounds, and then barrels straight into a pair of rockers that set the tone. Lead single “Let's Hear It For Love” shows off Frater's love of Todd Rundgren to great effect, and “Luna” keeps the energy up with a delirious stew of organ, guitar and harmonies over a stomping beat. Both would be perfectly at home atop the radio charts half a century ago but also bear the distinctive stamp of Frater's best work. From there it's into the lovely Pet Sounds-inflected “That Ship Has Sailed” and the pitch-perfect ballad “Moonstruck”, both showcasing an attention to production and arrangement detail that does nothing to dull their immediacy.

And things kick back up to an appropriately jittery level of energy with “Cocaine Gurls” (with its also-appropriate namedrops of Steely Dan, Talking Heads and Stevie Nicks) and “So Now We're Here”, evoking the garage-leaning sides of The Zombies or The Cyrkle with its fierce keyboards and rich harmonies. “California Waits” pairs a giddy textbook power pop vibe with the surprise of an insistent accordion (oh, it works!) but it's the next tune, “Would You Like To Go?” that nails the LA sound, seemingly rolling all eras of The Beach Boys into one rocking instant classic. The stately, lushly-orchestrated 6/8 yearning of “Buy You Time” brings FAST & LOOSE to an impassioned crescendo and the lovely “Endless Summertime Blues” serves as its tender conclusion.

Recorded very ‘fast & loose’ in Frater’s home studio, FAST & LOOSE features guest appearances from many of his friends in the pop rock scene including Spygenius, The Stan Laurels, Whelligan, Emperor Penguin, Super 8, Do Me Bad Things and a blistering solo from ex-Tokyo Dragons guitarist Steve Lowe. The guest roster will come as no surprise to followers of Nick's reciprocal work as a producer, live sideman (including recent UK gigs with the current edition of Love) and the impresario behind his own Great Sheiks Music imprint... he's the kind of team player we love here at BSR, our Nick!

Unknown to Frater at the time, the striking cover image was taken at a photoshoot where everyone was exposed to Covid 19 and had to self-isolate; a few days later the U.K. locked down completely. “There’s probably a metaphor to be found in wrapping your head in cling film and play-doh on the last day of the old world” says Frater, “but God only knows what it might be!” We can say that having Nick in the crazy world that followed has made it better: he would go on to complete and release the unique and fascinating 59 Vignettes project, a pandemic-era daily collection of just what the title implies in the form of one-minute mini-compositions that enlightened those early quarantine days, before putting the finishing touches on FAST & LOOSE. And naturally... he's already working ahead toward another collection for 2021. We're all in for all of it, and we're certain you will be, too.

For more on NICK FRATER, see:

www.nickfrater.com www.bigstirrecords.com/nick-frater

Nick Frater's pandemic-era collection of his daily one-minute song sketches, now available on one digital album!

Nick Frater's critically-acclaimed 2019 album "Full Fathom Freight-Train" available digitally here at BSR in anticipation of the September 19 release of his all-new album. Discover why everyone's excited to get FAST & LOOSE with Nick!