Frankie & The Heartstrings – I Still Follow You

It’s that time of year. In your desperate scramble to find warm clothing, that cosy, comfortable jumper that’s been hiding underneath various regrettable Primark purchases glows as if, for a brief few seconds, it’s the holy grail.

Hearing a new song from Frankie & The Heartstrings is a similar experience; we’d almost forgotten they’d disappeared, off to record that second album with Bernard Butler following 2011’s ‘Hunger’ and the one-off single, ‘Everybody Looks Better (In The Right Light). Yet, here they are, sounding as familiar as ever – albeit a bit less immediate.

To suggest ‘I Still Follow You’ – the first snippet of those album recording sessions with Butler, shows the Sunderland gang with less of a spring in their step would be both harsh and incorrect; it’s less gleeful than even the more miserablist efforts on ‘Hunger’, yes, but retains the band’s trademark jaunty indie-pop sensibilities. It does, however, hint at a little more grit. Grit is good.