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Indie pop duo, Shapes Like People, released their first single, “Fireworks” (reviewed here) in July. They follow it up this week with “When the Radio Plays”, a fun and absurdly catchy disco-pop single that diverges from their primary sound formula just enough to add breadth and depth to the full-length LP that’s in the works right now.
Fans of The Shop Window (TSW) may know that Shapes Like People (SLP) is made up of TSW frontman Carl Mann and his wife, Kat Mann. After TSW released the best record I’ve heard so far in 2024 in May, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that Carl’s and Kat’s SLP project would be a winner.
The funny thing is that SLP came about purely by accident, as I mentioned in the “Fireworks” review. Carl had written demos that didn’t fit into the TSW framework that he envisioned pitching to other artists. He needed a female guide vocal and asked Kat to sing but quickly he became possessive, knowing they had something special. Turns out, as you’ll see from the interview below, that “Radio” was the one of the first efforts from Carl with another artist in mind. Once he knew he wanted to keep the song, he worked it with more of his style and sound brought to the fore.
With SLP, Kat’s sultry vocals blend seamlessly with Carl’s reverb-drenched guitars and vocal harmonies. Elements of dream-, chamber-, and jangle-pop are woven with a tinge of folk. Kat’s voice reminds me of the late, great Kirsty MacColl but musically you’ll hear other touchstones including Beach House, Weyes Blood, Lush, Cocteau Twins, and Lana Del Rey. But with “Radio”, the poppiness quotient is full tilt. Far from a brooding emo track, “Radio”’s clipped, crisp guitar chords in verses bloom into a full sing-a-long chorus about dancing all night when the radio plays your favorite song.
I asked Carl and Kat to tell me more about the song’s origin and how it fits on the full-length.
David: I know you’re a music lover and I bet this song’s lyrics are built on real memories from childhood/teenager-hood when you listened to the radio. Is there a moment in time that you flashback and think about that really is the spirit of this song?
Carl: “Definitely! Sat by the radio every Sunday afternoon listening to the UK Top 40 chart show with my sister when we were kids. We would have a blank cassette paused, ready to record songs from the previous week. My sister is a few years older than me and always had 80s pop blasting out of her bedroom while singing into a hairbrush. I think it’s because of these memories that I have a real soft spot for lots of 80s music. She also got me into bands like The Smiths, The Cure, The Housemartins, The Jam and so on… As I got older and my music tastes developed, I turned to John Peel and Mark Goodier’s BBC Radio shows for my indie music fix.”
David: Which came first; music or lyrics? There is a disco feel here for sure, especially about two minutes in. Was this an intentional homage to the 70s to capture the whole feel of the song, or did your disco-loving selves just write music and you wrote lyrics to fit the vibe?
Carl: “The music and vocal melodies came first, lyrics followed. It was originally written with a female pop artist in mind, so we had to amp up the jangle from the original demo to bring it in line with the rest of SLP. It’s definitely the most pop I’ve gone with a song, and it felt right to add the 70s disco vibe to the middle eight section. I have huge admiration for Nile Rodgers as a songwriter and guitarist, [so] the disco part is my little nod to him.”
David: Other songs on the forthcoming LP, “Ticking Haze”, are quite different to “Radio”, with a more indie-pop feel. Was there any trepidation from either of you with “Radio” being too poppy? Maybe it sits a bit as an outlier on the record, and that’s OK, but maybe you’d disagree? Please feel free to!
Kat: “Absolutely! ‘Radio’ was the one track we considered dropping from the album. A few [friends] in trusted circles who’ve had a listen to the whole album really loved it, so we thought we’d keep it as a reminder of where SLP started – plus it’s super fun! Keeping it meant writing a couple of songs that bridged the musical gap between tracks like ‘Fireworks’ and this one. As a whole [the album is] sounding pretty diverse, but hopefully every song is instantly recognizable as Shapes Like People.”
If you dig this music, make a mental note. Two more singles are coming before the release of the full LP, to be called “Ticking Haze”.
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