FFO: Staithe – Slow Dance On Quick Sand

Newcastle-duo Staithe (consisting of Bridie Jackson and Nick Pierce) deal in evocative minimalism, weaving voice, classical guitar, piano, viola and electronics into intimate, immersive soundscapes. Regular collaborators across film, performance and dance, they shape work that’s delicate, focused and emotionally charged. After earning critical acclaim for their self‑released debut Flowers, they return with Slow Dance on Quick Sand. The track reflects on the kinds of love that endure and steady you through an ever‑shifting world. Sonically, the track moves like a slow‑rising mist, its subtle piano and lingering strings wrapped around haunting, emotive vocals to create a wide, cinematic expanse you can almost step into.

Here, the band try and capture the essence of their latest release using three other tracks…

Thom Yorke – Unmade (From the Suspira soundtrack of the remake of the film, Suspira)

This is a ridiculously lovely track; dreamy, tilted, a little bit creepy and that expressive voice is so full of longing. It really inspired a lot of the production choices we made for Slow Dance on Quick Sand. (However, the remake of the film itself is a bit of a campy mess!) Never mind, the album stands alone as a beautiful thing.

Lovely Assistant – Do/Don’t

We love listening to albums for inspiration and to get into a good creative mindset, but nothing beats soaking up live music and coming home mind blown by what you have experienced. We stumbled upon Lovely Assistant at a gig at Cobalt last year and were completely gobsmacked by them. The way they deconstruct songs and put them back together even more beautifully is wonderful. We love them.

Sibelius – Andante Festivo

Years before we met, and on opposite sides of the country, we were both nerdy orchestra kids in bad cardigans (Bridie in the brass section, Nick holding up the strings) and because of this, classical music holds a special place for us. We often listen to certain pieces when we are trying to create string parts, and this is one of our favourites. The music is so passionate and robust, and the live recording ‘crackle’ is just gorgeous.