Some artists and bands can labour over their work forever. Incessantly layering on parts, changing bits and pieces here and there, while just trying to capture the magic that can be found in their live performance. For Fievel Is Glauque, the international project of Zach Phillips and Ma Clément, they’ve found that this magic can be captured in their spontaneity. To announce their signing to Fat Possum the duo have released a double single, “I’m Scanning Things I Can’t See” and “Dark Dancing”, and it shows that creating in the moment can be as powerful as tinkering away in the studio. Brooklyn based Phillips is an avant garde veteran who helped shape the label OST Tapes while Clément is a Belgium based singer with whom Phillips was introduced to by a friend in a bid to get him to make a record in Brussels. With a rotating cast of musicians the duo have put out a couple of releases, 2021’s God’s Trashmen Sent To Right The Mess and 2022’s “proper debut” Flaming Swords. Now with their forthcoming album for Fat Possum looming we can be treated to the sounds of what will be on the horizon for Fievel Is Glauque.

The two singles just released were quickly written and recorded during a writing trip for the band in April. The songs hastily put down on a Tascam 424 Portastudio were meant to highlight the “moment of creation” but the duo chose to release these as they were as they felt it captures the compositions raw life. While a bit raw, the two songs are both wonderfully beautiful. Effortlessly played by an obvious crack group of musicians, “I’m Scanning Things I Can’t See” and “Dark Dancing” are both so full of life and feeling in a way that even the limited fidelity of the recordings cannot hide. With Clément’s slightly reverb dipped vocals floating over the group’s exciting jazz pop arrangements these tracks are wonderfully addictive. Listening to these tracks it’s akin to discovering a couple of hidden gems from years past. They both seem to exist in a timeless yet forward thinking area that feels hard to put your finger on but so easy to enjoy.

Fievel Is Glauque is a great respite for many who are tired of the onslaught of new music that is constantly hitting us over the heads. A pair of artists who want to push their art forward but do so in a way that is impressively easy to listen to. It’s a shame that we only have these two tracks to sink into for the moment but knowing that these exist with the promise of more on the horizon is something that is very exciting.

Stream “I’m Scanning Things I Can’t See” and “Dark Dancing” HERE.