In the old days – well, in that golden time before AI came along and ruined everything – there was this mad thing whereby someone would slowly build up a set of skills and hone them over a period of time, usually a number of years. Then, at some point, all of the mistakes and false starts and stuff would kind of pay off and they would arrive at a point where extraordinary things started to happen. There was heart and soul, emotional intelligence, musicianship, and a whole world of wrong notes and right notes that came together to make something that was precious. Now, in the age where you can write a series of prompts and have everything you want instantly, it’s really easy to overlook just how good some people are at what they do.

In those aforementioned old days, Alfie Firmin (and his collaborator here, Ted Groves) would be the kind of artist whose name was mentioned alongside words like prodigious, prolific, and multi-talented. I think all of those words still apply, by the way, but I guess I’m something of a romantic when it comes to this stuff. What I’m trying to say is that this is the kind of record – like its predecessors – that you can really appreciate, and I implore that you do. There’s a whole load of rubbish out there taking up space, but if you like concise, highly-melodic, and beautifully written and arranged pop songs then there’s ten of them right here. I’ve been aware of Alfie’s work for a couple of years now, and this is perhaps his best collection yet. There’s a lot of love in these songs. I recommend.

TL;DR: Not even a year after his last one, Alfie Firmin has released another stellar LP. FFO Beatles, Beach Boys, Nilsson.

Alfie’s track-by-track notes

Alfie was kind enough to send across some notes reflecting on each track on the record.

Anna Anna is a song dedicated to my wife and partner of nearly a decade now. Anna’s from Sweden and we’ve spent a lot of that time in and out of a long-distance situation. I wrote this song a couple years ago towards the tail-end of that. (We now live together in Southend and got married last year.) Musically I was inspired by the idea of pub-rock bands of the mid-70s trying their hand at soul music, specifically Nick Lowe’s early band Brinsley Schwarz and their ‘New Favorites’ album which I love the sound of!

Built to Last I wanted to write a song that evoked the feeling of those early Beatles ballads like ‘Til There Was You’ or ‘And I Love Her’, something simple to showcase me and Ted singing and playing together acoustically. I think it’s a nice palette cleanser to ease the listener into the rest of the album, Ted plays a great solo on it!

Spin the Wheel A song I’ve had kicking around for a long time! I must’ve originally written this back in 2020 alongside a lot of the songs that made up the Absentee album. I don’t have a strong recollection as to why but for whatever reason it didn’t make the cut at that time, it stuck around though and when it came time to record this album it fit in naturally with the newer material. I’ve found that usually a song that sticks around like that is one worth keeping!

As I Drift Away With this song I really wanted the arrangement to capture the feeling of those Spector produced ‘70s records like Born to Be with You by Dion or Death of a Ladies’ Man by Leonard Cohen. I don’t know if we achieved that but we ended up with our own version of that kind of thing. I was thinking about different relationships in our lives and how the nature of them can change over time when writing the words.

Something to Prove It can be an intimidating feeling sometimes to be responsible for other people. But isn’t that what we are here for at the end of the day? I think we are capable of beautiful things in the service of others, that’s the root of this song for me. 

Summer’s Day Another track inspired by that intersection of the wall of sound and the singer-songwriters of the seventies, as well as another one that’s been hanging around for a little while. I’m mostly just singing about a nice day at the beach and finding simple pleasures in being with the one you love, tried and true subject matter if you ask me!

Retrospective I really like the way this one came out, especially the long instrumental section at the end with all the harmonies, synth and guitar. It feels kind of Wings-esque to me with a little Carole King thrown in. Lyrically I’d say it’s inspired by our tendency to have a complicated relationship with the past and nostalgia.

All We Can Say I wrote this on the piano one day at Anna’s parent’s place in Sweden. I had been listening to The Point by Harry Nilsson a lot. It’s one that really came alive in the studio as me & Ted (who produced the album) were recording it. We really leaned into the Nilsson and McCartney influence on it and had a great time recording the backing vocals together! 

Reminder Me and my live band have been playing this one for a little while now and it always seems to go down well. It’s another love song and quite literally a reminder for myself to do what it says during the bridge. Me and Anna hadn’t gotten married yet when I wrote this but you can tell it was on my mind at the time!

Washed Up A piano ballad to close things out, I was shooting for a ‘70s Beach Boys thing with this one, hence the title, I wanted to try and write another song with interesting harmony like Sentimental Doubt on the last album. I’m pleased with how it turned out and it feels like an appropriate way to end the album!