Music built on tiny conversations. That’s what London three-piece Fassine (Sarah Palmer, Laurie Langan, James Hayward) offer up through their widely inspired cinematic scope. As the trio detail, they’ve previously found creative cues in the music of UNKLE and Berlin-era Bowie as well as British TV dramas of the ‘70s and ‘80s. For new track ‘Feather Jesus’, the band have turned to something much more universally understood. As Fassine detail, this song “is about death and loss and how people cope, celebrate and even embrace it.” The duality of this track, with those subdued, lamenting interludes led by Sarah Palmer’s dewy vocals and the anthemic choruses, shunning the silence in synth-pop glory, certainly convey the different ways that people deal with death. ‘Feather Jesus’ is vibrant, full of colour and texture, and something you really wouldn’t expect to emerge from such a dark subject matter. Let’s hope the rest of their forthcoming album, Gourami, is as surprising. - HT