One True Pairing – One True Pairing //Domino Records// (Released 20th September)

Description

£23.99 – Indies Only 180g coloured LP & DL Code

The former Wild Beasts songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Fleming releases his debut solo album under the guise One True Pairing. About the second song ‘I’m Not Afraid’  from the self-titled album, Tom says:  “We’ve been kicked our whole lives and I’m not afraid, But I won’t go back down to that place again” – with this, Tom sets his intention for One True Pairing.

“I wanted to write about the real world, I didn’t want it to be an artistic, poised, tasteful record, it’s neo-heartland rock” says Tom Fleming. “One True Pairing is a name taken from internet fan fiction, where you write the perfect relationship you always wished existed. The idea of Prince Charming and Helpless Princess living happily after is no fun at all.”

Tom’s musical touchstones were Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Tom Petty alongside Depeche Mode and Swans. He wrote and played everything himself and then brought in Ben Hillier (Nadine Shah, Graham Coxon) on mixing and production duties. One True Pairing is an album shaped by class frustration and self-despair and there is a continuation of the exploration of masculinity that made Wild Beasts so unique. As well as being deeply personal, One True Pairing  has a wider political resonance. “This country is going through a terrible moment and if you listen to the art nobody seems to give a shit,” Fleming says emphatically. He believes that class is entirely discounted from the current conversation about inclusivity and privilege. In its eleven songs of discordant guitar and aggressive synth Fleming channels his discontent with Britain in 2019 and a “feeling of directionless rage and cheatedness which hasn’t gone away.”

Tracklist:

Zero Summer
I’m Not Afraid
One True Pairing
Weapons
Dawn At The Factory
Blank Walls
Reaper Of Souls
Elite Companion
Alive In The Resplendent Flames
King Of The Rats
Only God Can Judge Me