Socks and Ballerinas Release AA Single ‘Milk43’/‘The End of Fiona’
Bristol instrumental duo Socks and Ballerinas are pleased to reveal their new AA single ‘Milk43’/’The End of Fiona’ set for release on 4th September 2024.
The tracks are the final singles to be taken from the band’s forthcoming new album A Bit Jumpy. Which will be released on 27th September 2024, and follow on from lead single ‘Newton’ and follow up ‘OutsideIn’ released earlier this year.
Written, performed, and recorded by Socks and Ballerinas, the album was mixed and mastered by Nick Lewis at Old Cottage Audio, an old stone miner's cottage on the outskirts of Bristol.
Commenting on the melodic slow-build atmosphere of A side single ‘Milk43’, guitarist Leo Calamati says: “This song started from a simple tapping loop idea which I didn’t expect to evolve into what is probably the most emotional song that we have. I’m very happy with how powerful and epic it has turned out to be, although it has been a challenge to get the track to blossom.”
“In the early stages of developing this song I had a tribal rhythm in my mind that ended up becoming a more punchy and dynamic flow,” adds drummer Katy Helfenbein. “I’m particularly happy with the change in the second half, with the bass punching in. For those who heard it live before release, this song seemed to be a fan favourite!”
AA side and album closer ‘The End of Fiona’ is, by contrast, a lurching rhythmic oddity that pushes the boundaries of the band’s guitar and drum-centric sound.
“This is one of my favourite pieces on the album,” enthuses Calamati. “It came to life during a cabin trip in the middle of some Finnish forests with just a tiny acoustic guitar and a drum machine. It might be a divergence in style from what we usually do, but I feel like we learned a lot from this song, expanding on mood and tone—and a bit of hilarity.”
“This song has a different vibe than most of our other pieces,” confirms Helfenbein. “It combines synths, groovy bass sounds and floaty guitars, so I wanted to keep the drumming simple but energetic. Don’t get fooled by the animal sounds, it’s just us being silly.”
Formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2016, and now freshly arrived back in the UK from a stint working in Helsinki, Finland, Socks and Ballerinas are an instrumental live looping duo based in Bristol consisting of Leonardo Calamati (guitar, bass and synths) and Katalin Helfenbein (drums).
Coining their own sound as “instant WTF”—a surprisingly apt description of their mind-bending approach to creating music—their decidedly signature sound contains elements of math-rock, electronic music, progressive rock and more, namechecking Battles, Aiming for Enrike, Bearcubbin, Radiohead and Ratatat as just of few of their myriad influences.
Making enough chaotic noise to convince the unaware of a lineup many times their actual size, the pair fuse distorted and electronic melodies with a good dose of danceable ear-worms. Listening to their music is like being on the most white-knuckle roller coaster you’ve ever ridden: ups and downs, double speed, sudden stops, reversing, unexpected endings…nothing is ever quite what it seems in their upside down universe.
Calamati’s looped and warped guitar tones somersault and morph, imitating pretty much everything and anything you can imagine other than a traditional rock guitar sound, whilst Helfenbein’s metronomic, precision work on the skins holds the whole teetering jenga tower together.
The band’s 2019 debut album SOAP! received exceptional reviews from niche alternative tastemakers and its opener ‘Salmon Soup’ has been included in the OST of the award winning video game CONTROL, which Calamati also served as concept artist for—the guitarist even managed to sneak a free Bandcamp download code for the album into the game as a hidden easter egg, as well as several visual references to their music.
Socks and Ballerinas’ forthcoming new album, A Bit Jumpy., promises to push the boundaries of the electronic sounds that they mix with their unique analogue style ever further, over the coming months.
Already appearing at Dot To Dot Festival earlier this year, the band have a handful of live dates on sale now with further appearances TBA for 2025.
New album A Bit Jumpy. released 27th September 2024
Live Dates:
4th October 2024 - Nottingham, JT Soar
9th January 2025 - Bristol, The Louisiana
A Bit Jumpy. album tracklist:
1. Vanta Black
2. Outsidein
3. Muscle Monsters
4. Milk43
5. Newton
6. Leak
7. Chemical
8. 200ml
9. The End Of Fiona
Socks and Ballerinas are:
Leonardo Calamati (guitar, bass and synths)
Katalin Helfenbein (drums)
Socks and Ballerinas online:
https://www.socksandballerinas.com
https://www.instagram.com/socksandballerinas
https://www.facebook.com/Socksandballerinas
https://twitter.com/SocksBallerinas
Listen to lead single ‘Newton’:
Watch the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM5aXaEnyz8
Stream and share - HERE
