HQFU - HQFU

In an era where Glasgow is producing a stunning array of electronic music, HQFU's debut self titled album is a true standout. 2015's Dust & Dirt and Ca$hle$$ Lip$ were two of the year's best singles, a mixture of dark electronics and house influences that rightly brought HQFU to many people's attention and they set the standard for the whole album. Both feature here, along with 7 new tracks.

Dust & Dirt kicks the album off, leading into the superb All That She Wants, a track that fuses an acid bassline to increasingly frantic bleeps and beeps to brilliant effect, before Ca$hle$$ Lip$ arrives, still sounding as thrilling as ever. One of my two favourite tracks GTFOS is up next. Mainly instrumental, it has the distinct feel of Orbital at their peak, positively exploding from the speakers. At HQFU's recent album launch show, this was a highlight and it's the same here too. 

Hardly slows things down a little, a comedown from GTFOS, before things heat up again with Sat Nite, the track here that owes the most to the 90's era rave tapes that first influenced HQFU's Sarah Stanley. The huge sounding Dreamer follows, all pummelling bass and frantic electronic squiggles, before we reach the album's other standout track, Good Reason. Like GTFOS, it is one of the tracks that's a highlight of the HQFU live show and, in its recorded form, it's just as good. It builds and builds, starting off  quietly before adding layers of sound, ending up a mesmerising wall of sound with a chorus that you can't shake once you've heard it. Thrilling stuff.

LO rounds the album off nicely with echoes of LFO throughout and, once it ends, all you want to do is go back to the start and listen again. HQFU manages to capture the energy of HQFU's live show which is a plus but, even if you haven't caught the live show yet, this is an album you'll want to here. As debuts go, it really doesn't get much better than this.

HQFU by HQFU is available now through HQFU's own site and Bandcamp page digitally and on rather lovely limited edition vinyl. Keep an eye on the HQFU site and Facebook page for upcoming shows.

HQFU Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HQFUHQFU/?fref=ts

HQFU http://www.hqfu.co.uk/

Bandcamp https://hqfu.bandcamp.com/album/hqfu

THE ALMOST PREDICTABLES 2015 NO.1 - BEST NEW BAND

Every year, I hand out awards to artists who have made my musical year. Whilst these awards don't carry any cash value or even physical prize, they are designed simply to say thanks to the bands and musicians that I've featured - thank you for the music as Abba might say. Anyway, instead of one big post this year, there are going to be five over the first five days of December and the first one is Best New Band.

One thing this blog tried to do this year was take a look at new bands as they popped up on the blog's radar. Scotland, and Glasgow especially, has had a remarkable year for new music and the number of acts I've come across and the sheer talent of those acts, has been quite stunning. The bands I've featured in our New Bands 2015 (or at least new to the blog) section have been:

Twi§ted http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/new-bands-2015-1-twissted.html

Malmo http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/new-bands-2015-2-malmo.html

Fiona Soe Paina http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/new-bands-2015-3-fiona-soe-paing.html

Kill The Waves http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/new-bands-2015-no-4-kill-waves.html

Tongues http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/new-bands-2015-no5-tongues.html

Kloe http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/new-bands-2015-no-6-kloe.html

Shards http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/new-bands-2015-no-5-shards.html

Turtle http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/new-bands-2015-no-8-turtle.html

vvsi http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/new-bands-2015-no-8-very-very-small.html

Stillhound http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/new-bands-2015-no-10-stillhound.html

Monogram http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/new-bands-2015-no-11-monogram.html

Miracle Strip http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/new-bands-2015-no-12-miracle-strip.html

Aquafaux http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/new-bands-2015-no-13-aquafaux.html

Bunny & The Invalid Singers http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/new-bands-2015-no-14-bunny-invalid.html

HQFU http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/new-bands-2015-no-15-hqfu.html

Smash Williams http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/new-bands-2015-no-16-smash-williams.html

Our Future Glory http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/new-bands-2015-no-17-our-future-glory.html

Eyes Of Others http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/new-bands-2015-no-18-eyes-of-others.html

Add to that list the likes of Mt Doubt and The Deadline Shakes and you have quite a collection of acts. There can only be one winner however and we're delighted to award this year's Almost Predictable to HQFU an act that has had a ridiculously successful year. Despite only having released two, admittedly outstanding, singles (Dust & Dirt and Ca$hle$$ Lip$), HQFU has attrracted plaudit after plaudit and ultimately ended up supporting Chvrches in London in September at their album launch show. HQFU's music has been one of this year's standouts for me and a really fresh take on electronic music and so it's a pleasure to name HQFU Best New Band.  Sarah Stanley a.k.a HQFU kindly took the time to answer some questions for me.

APA: Congratulations on winning the Almost Predictable for Best New Band. How's 2015 been for you?

HQFU: Thanks so much for the award and for giving a shit! I appreciate it hugely. 2015 has been a very busy year for me, especially after the release of Dust & Dirt mid-year. It gained a lot more attention than I expected and things kind of took off from there music wise and since then I've just been gigging my ass off trying to get a feel for my new live act and get some people interested in live sows I guess. I've also been on a steep learning curve with everything the "industry" has had to throw at me over the past few months. I'm just glad no-one has told me they hate me and my music is shit and my fragile ego has managed to remain intact so far.

APA: How have you found the reaction to HQFU?

HQFU: It's been very positive and I seem to have fooled many into thinking I'm 22 or something so for that I'm very lucky! I think I'm old enough and stubborn enough not to come across as a cookie cut performer. I hope, and I feel I like maybe people think it's something new, I don't know. It's very hard to perceive your own self and your own work because of the angle at which I'm making it, and the angle others are consuming it at. I'm glad, though, that there have been things said that sound like people don't see me as a run of the mill construct, as I don't think I am. I'm not just a musician and I'm also very serious about the integrity of my work, regardless of how people perceive it.

APA: Both Dust & Dirt and Ca$hle$$ Lip$ are stand out tracks for me this year. What or who are your influences when writing?

HQFU: Well they are the only tracks I was "allowed" to release right now! I'm learning to take the PR advice of more seasoned experts haha! I've no idea what influences me day to day or when writing. If I'm being honest, I both dread and pre-empt this question in every interview. I don't have time to sit and note down what influences me. When I write, I might have a different person in mind per line, or I might be imagining something from someone else's perspective, but in my words. Making inspires me more than anything. I'm a maker at heart, and so when I start making the rest comes into focus. Then you hone and edit and get rid of the redundant content. I know I'm diverting from the question here - if I gave a list of musicians or artists who I like, it would merely be to pacify this question and it wouldn't mean shit to me so I won't. Sorry for maybe seeming antagonistic! (APA - not at all!) I just don't know who has time to sit and think to remember what influences them. I think we're all just inspired by our surroundings and environment and if you have the type of mind that turns that into music or art, that's just consequential.

APA: What's been your highlight of the year?

HQFU: Maybe Sandi Thom's youtube video of her crying because Radio 2 wouldn't play her track. That was fucking hilarious

APA: What are your plans for 2016?

HQFU: Well it's shaping up to be a busy year by the looks of things. My new extended EP goes to press this month, so should be ready to pre-order bang on 2016, the I'm doing Vic Galloway's first Quay live session of 2016 on January 4th so that's nice. Then it's really gigging and punting the vinyl once it's made. There will be a few wee tours outside Glasgow, starting with my first London headline show. I think I'll be kept plenty busy - I'll also be working on the album. I'm quite a prolific writer, so there will hopefully be some studio time in there as well so there will be plenty to select from when compiling the album. Other than that, fuck knows what I'll end up getting up to.

APA: Finally, given how this blog began, there's an obligatory Depeche Mode question - what's your favourite DM track?

HQFU: Maybe, Master & Servant. I do like to play games and master and servant sounds like a lot of fun ;)

Thanks very much to Sarah for taking the time to have a chat. I'm really looking forward to the EP and album and you'll hear all about them here next year. Thanks too to all the bands listed above for the time you gave me this year. Look forward to hearing lots more from all of you very soon

HQFU Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HQFUHQFU/?fref=ts

HQFU http://www.sarahjstanley.com/HQFU.html

HQFU - CA$HLE$$ LIP$

It's been nothing short of a spectacular few months for Glasgow based Sarah J Stanley a.k.a. HQFU. Her debut release, Dust & Dirt, rightly got a lot of attention both on here, many other blogs and on radio and that led to a support slot with Chvrches at their album release show in London in September this year. At this rate, HQFU will be headlining T In The Park next year. 

All the attention on HQFU is entirely justified and new single Ca$hle$$ Lip$ only serves to confirm that HQFU is a very special talent indeed. Built around an insistent 90's rave like feel (think Orbital's first couple of albums), the track brings that influence bang up to date, adding layers of glimmering electropop that positively radiate with confidence to produce a single that many bands several singles and albums down the line would kill for. You simply have to hear it.

As I've mentioned several thousand times already, Glasgow is, as far as I am concerned, producing the best and most diverse electronic music that you'll find anywhere at the moment. HQFU is yet another superb example of that and Ca$hle$$ Lip$ is as good a track as you'll hear from that scene or any other. 

Ca$hle$$ Lip$ is available now from HQFU's Bandcamp page and ITunes

HQFU Bandcamp https://hqfu.bandcamp.com/album/ca-hle-lip

HQFU Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HQFUHQFU?fref=ts