IN THESE AUSTERE TIMES, EX-CREATION RECORDS ALUMNI PETE FIJ AND TERRY BICKERS ARE SET TO ISSUE THEIR NEW SINGLE WITH A RECESSION-BUSTING ‘PAY WHAT YOU WANT’ PRICE TAG. DOWNSIZING IS RELEASED ON OCTOBER 28TH.
In under two-and-a-half minutes, the new single (available here) chronicles the plight of those who have been ‘let go’. Opening with the lines “She had an audit of her life, and something had to go – last in, first out… well, I guess I should have known”, its hybrid of cheer and melancholy is an apt of-the-moment tale that compares the downscaling of people’s love-lives with cutbacks in HR departments the world over.
It follows the release of acclaimed debut single BETTY FORD in April this year. Fij (Adorable / Polak) and Bickers (House Of Love / Levitation) teamed up to create melancholic downbeat songs which they describe as “Velvet Underground gone acoustic, or Simon & Garfunkel on downers”, and debut album BROKEN HEART SURGERY is due for release on Valentine’s Day in 2014.
The duo blew the new single’s entire marketing budget of £3 on a photo session in a local passport booth, and the accompanying video (below) was shot on a budget of zero. It’s a strangely affecting scrap-book of closed shops using found photographs donated by fans.
Fij and Bickers are also set to be the subject of a documentary, directed by Peter Bromley of London-based 1968 Film Group, which is scheduled for release during 2014.
The melancholic troubadours will be travelling up to the bright lights of London from their base on the South coast, to perform a show at The Social, Little Portland Street (Oxford Circus Tube) on Monday 28th October. Tickets are £5 in advance (here) or £7 on the door.

Around the release of BETTY FORD, Fij spoke to us about his work with Bickers. Read here.