Photos: Pete Fij Shares WAKE UP HONEY Single Ahead of UP'S THE NEW DOWN LP
The track follows previously released singles Don't Bring Me Sunshine, Cuckoo, and Love's Coming Back.
Pete Fij has shared his new single 'Wake Up Honey' from his upcoming LP Up's The New Down, due out September 25th via Tip Top Records. The track is an infectious, three-minute indie pop joyride and is accompanied by a charming, animated music video.
Photo Credit: Dorian Rogers
'Wake Up Honey is a tribute to all my fellow losers and dreamers out there,' he says. 'I originally wrote it as a throwaway B-side, but couldn't throw it away, and kept returning to it, enjoying its rough-edged pop sensibility. I subsequently decided to re-record it for the album, adding in 8-bit electronic sounds to mimic the music of old video games that I spent many a lost week playing in days gone by.
It comes complete with my homage to Joey Santiago (who I should add is neither a loser or a dreamer) from Pixies.
The video captures the spirit of the 90s video games I imagine the protagonist of the song playing; blissfully stuck in his own dreamworld, unaware that he's been dumped!'
'Wake Up Honey' follows album singles 'Don't Bring Me Sunshine,' 'Cuckoo,' and 'Love's Coming Back,' which have earned praise and support from Brooklyn Vegan, New Noise, SPILL, Magnet, and more. Renowned for his unmistakable voice and wry lyrical touch, Pete Fij(alkowski) makes a welcome return with fresh solo material - unveiling songs that brim with melody, wit and understated charm.
Slinging back on the electric guitar, ditching the job, upping the BPMs, and falling in love again has resulted in Pete embracing his fuzzed up dream-pop past but also throwing in elements of pop and electronica.
'Wake Up Honey' by Pete Fij is out now.
Pete Fij - Live Dates
9/19 - Coventry, UK - Covtember Fest
10/8 - Norwich, UK - The Holloway
10/9 - Lincoln, UK - Akedo
10/10 - Northampton, UK - The Lab
10/11 - Darlington, UK - Angel's Cut
10/12 - Edinburgh, UK - Sneaky Pete's
10/16 - London, UK - West Hampstead Arts Club
10/19 - Derby, UK - The Vic Inn
10/20 - Salford, UK - The Eagle Inn
10/22 - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store
Up's The New Down - Track Listing
1. Love's Coming Back
2. Hey Sunshine
3. Complicated
4. Kitchen Disco
5. Cuckoo
6. Don't Bring Me Sunshine
7. Actor
8. Wake Up Honey
9. Buzz Buzz
10. Fragments
Pete Fij Bio
Renowned for his unmistakable voice and wry lyrical touch, Pete Fij(alkowski) makes a welcome return with fresh solo material - unveiling songs that brim with melody, wit and understated charm.
Pete first burst onto the scene in the early 90s as the frontman and guitarist of post-shoegaze / pre-Britpop band Adorable, whose 1993 album Against Perfection, released on Creation Records, is regularly referred to as a lost indie classic, with the band picking up multiple 'Single of the Week' awards in the NME, and topping the Indie charts. Noel Gallagher once told Creation Records' Alan McGhee that dropping Adorable from the label was one of his biggest mistakes, whilst other artists such as Ash, Slowdive and Brian Jonestown Massacre amongst others have all expressed their admiration for the band.
Following this he joined up with his brother Krzys to form One Little Indian band Polak (Swansongs 2000 / Rubbernecking 2002) which took in influences from the likes of Sparklehorse, Radiohead and dEUS, and led The Independent to call him 'the most gifted lyricist since Jarvis Cocker last put pen to paper'.
There then followed a musical exile, after having what Pete now describes as 'a musical breakdown' before re-emerging alongside celebrated House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers to release two critically acclaimed albums as Pete Fij / Terry Bickers on 2014's Broken Heart Surgery, and 2017's We Are Millionaires, winning the Roundtable 'Single of The Week' on Steve Lamacq's BBC 6Music show - 'Beautiful' (MOJO) 'Unfailingly lovely' (UNCUT) 'Stunning' (OHM) 'Beautifully constructed' (Q).
Adorable then reformed for a few weeks in 2019 for a series of one off dates that sold out in record time, playing bigger venues than they did in their heyday – and then broke up again.
After another musical hiatus, he's back:
'After years of singing downbeat songs of melancholy and loss, after waving goodbye to a long-term relationship, after working at a care home during the Covid pandemic, after seeing people off from the platform of life as a Funeral Celebrant, I decided to have a reset.'
Slinging back on the electric guitar, ditching the job, upping the BPMs, and falling in love again has resulted in Pete embracing his fuzzed up dream-pop past but also throwing in elements of pop and electronica.
Now signed to Tip Top Recordings, the Working Title of his forthcoming LP is appropriately enough 'Up's The New Down' (to be released in 2026).
Pete's lush and rich baritone voice has been compared to Lee Hazlewood, Lou Reed and Richard Hawley in the past – and fans will be pleased to hear that, if anything, it's sounding stronger, more urgent and characterful than ever.
Photo Credit: Dorian Rogers
