November 5, 2024

Skylight Webzine

Online since 2000

Indie pop outfit TINY FIGHTER presents ‘Katrina’, a heartfelt Americana-inspired ballad…

Swedish-Australian indie pop outfit Tiny Fighter presents ‘Katrina’, a heartfelt Americana-inspired ballad about personal strength and renewal in the face of challenge. Written by Alex Jamal, Tim Spelman and Therese Karlsson, the accompanying video was directed by Swedish photographer and producer Rikard Westman.

“I wanted to capture the frightening yet promising feeling of being ”born again” after a dramatic incident, as told by the lyrics. Something very new lies ahead and even if it seems overwhelming, the only thing you can do is to surrender to it and, well, live,” says Rikard Westman.

“It’s a classic storm-as-metaphor song. The need sometimes for a dramatic, even violent loss of everything we think defines us to rediscover new possibility and new life,” says Therese Spelman.

‘Katrina’ can be found on their new ‘Tell Me’ EP, released via American label Bay Terrace Records. This 3-track offering was recorded and produced by legendary multi-Grammy, Gold & Platinum Award producer Thomas ‘Plec’ Johansson at The Panic Room in Skövde in southern Sweden, a collaboration that allowed them to further refine their sound.

On previous releases, they recorded in Los Angeles and Stockholm with Daniel Rejmer (Foals, Ben Frost, Girls Names), extending on the more melodic moments from their previous work with bands such as Fire to the Stars and Mid-State Orange.

Tiny Fighter offers an enticing mix of indie-rock and berserker chamber pop. Despite the staggering odds against them ever meeting, Therese Karlsson (a truck driver from Kalmar in southern Sweden) and Tim Spelman (a doctor from Melbourne, Australia) met in Stockholm and began collaborating in 2017. Tiny Fighter quickly expanded into a 5-piece with the addition of Tommy Wilen, Marcus Wallberg and Robin Zimmermann, bringing all the dynamics and volume of their recorded material on to the stage.

“After starting life as a duo, this is the first recording with a full band, and I think that’s reflected in the stronger, fuller sound compared to our earlier singles,” says Tim Spelman.

“The idea to close the EP with a quieter, gentler piano-driven song such as Katrina was an attempt to show a different side to the band. Although we are fans of the big, guitar-driven rock song we also really love the complexities of melody and harmony that only a piano or a vocal can impart. The common denominator here is pop. All three songs on the EP are most definitely pop, just taking slightly different form.”

Tiny Fighter has quickly built a strong reputation for their stirring live performances and for their ability to tastefully mix catchy indie-pop with darker themes and arrangements. Sharon Van Etten, Catpower and Agnes Obel number among their influences, as d Gyllene Tider, Mitski, Veruca Salt and Kim Shatturk/The Muffs.

After their successful singles‘New Century’‘Want Friends’and‘Hollow Talk’, Tiny Fighter have grown from an artsy studio project to a full-fledged live band capable of selling out tours and filling larger music venues. Tiny Fighter completed a run of sold-out shows throughout Scandinavia and Europe in the summer of 2018, followed by a North American tour in November 2018.

The ‘Tell Me’ EP is available now across online stores like iTunes and streaming platforms such as Spotify. It can also be ordered directly from Tiny Fighter via Bandcamp.

TRACK LIST
1. Tell Me
2. Where Are You Now
3. Katrina

CREDITS
Performed by Tim Spelman & Therese Karlsson
‘Tell Me’ written by Tim Spelman & Therese Karlsson
‘Where Are You Now’ written by Tim Spelman, Therese Karlsson & Tommy Wilen
‘Katrina’ written by Alex Jamal, Tim Spelman & Therese Karlsson
Recorded, produced and mastered by Thomas “Plec” Johansson at The Panic Room
Everything else by Thomas “Plec” Johansson
Cover artwork by Kyle V James
‘Tell Me’ video by Kyle V James & Mallori Taylor

LIVE DATES
April 23rd: Riga, Latvia
May 28th: Southside Cavern, Stockholm
June 2nd: Bloom Festival, Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland
June 9th: Seville, Spain
June 12th: Södermalm, Stockholm
September 4th: Live at Heart, Örebro, Sweden  

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