Fifth Daughter - 2025 - Stellar Season

(43:02; Regal Crabomophone)






















Fifth Daughter are not only a band new to Fruits de Mer, but this is their debut release although the duo of Nicholas Whittaker (Diagonal) and James Howarth (Running Dogs, The KLF, Martin "Youth" Glover) have been around the scene for a while. They describe themselves as progressive/psychedelic rock and their music as an "eclectic mix of prog, psych and acid folk, very much inspired by the likes of Jade Warrior, Jimmie Spheeris, VdGG and Incredible String Band". Anyone who put that out there from the off is going to get me giving them a try and I am very glad I did as this never sounds like an album from 2025, but much more like something from 50-60 years ago.

Lyrically this is a loose concept release telling the story of a rural society far from Earth whose obsession with summer leads to an endless day that they soon regret, learning to appreciate the rhythm of the seasons in the process. To complete the line-up Whittaker brought in fellow Diagonal band members Luke Foster and Dave Wileman while it also includes contributions from ambient guitarist Will Howes. There is a  psychedelic folk feel which certainly makes one think of ISB and Nick Drake, with flute interweaving between the bass and acoustic guitars with dramatic drums being very busy indeed but somehow never taking away from what is taking place in the rest of the arrangements. The sax is very David Jackson in its nature, and when it comes in it totally takes over while never dominating too much – it is also often multi-tracked which gives it a nice duality.

This never sounds like a debut and is a wonderfully polished and intriguing debut which fans of the style of music detailed above will undoubtedly get a great deal from. I certainly look forward to hearing more in the near future. 

Kev Rowland, July 2025

Links:
https://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/

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