Firestations - International Dust

International Dust is the new album from London art-pop band Firestations, and it marks a return to their full five-piece band format after a journey into more stripped back alt-folk territory on last year’s Many White Horses.

The nine tracks on the album (out on October 16th on Lost Map Records), encompass an eclectic and intuitive mix of dream-pop, alt-country and hypnotic cyclical numbers, and were shaped collectively by the whole band through various twists and turns at rehearsal sessions during 2024. It was recorded live in the room at Otterhead Studios in early 2025 (engineered by Ellis Powell-Bevan and Oscar Ball), before being mixed and mastered by James Trevascus (Invada, Portishead, PJ Harvey, Young Fathers). This longer gestation period, combined with having someone outside the band on production duties, has resulted in a more expansive and immersive listen, with room for everything to find its place.

The musical arrangements this time round also contribute to the immersive feel by exploring the depth of musicianship in the band. As well as their primary instruments, Neil’s viola, Laura’s flute and flugelhorn, and Martin’s piano playing feature on multiple songs, taking Firestations to previously uncharted territory. The improvised flute and viola on album opener ‘Hidden Face’ add some playful chaos and menace to proceedings, while on ‘Beginners’ and ‘Sleeping on the Sidelines’ the piano is woven into the mix, giving the tracks a sense of fragility and world-weariness. More surprisingly perhaps, Mike also adds some jazz adjacent tenor saxophone at the end of ‘International Dust’.

The first single ‘An Apparition’, a dreamy alt-pop number with a hooky synth riff, has a wide-screen chorus allowing Laura and Mike’s harmony vocals to shine. It’s more than just a three-minute(ish) pop song though, as with most Firestations material there’s a concept behind it. As Mike says:

“I was aiming for a kind of anti-establishment protest song, but it seems to be more of a ghost story now – about being haunted or possessed without really understanding how or why. Haunted by a misremembered past perhaps, and going through a series of collective hallucinations. I was also thinking about Michael Haneke’s German TV adaptation of Kafka’s The Castle quite a bit when this song emerged, and I hope that some of that mood has made it into this.”

‘Given Power’, meanwhile, strays into bouncy electronic territory, highlighting an interest in electronica (facilitated by Martin’s Ableton wizardry) and how it can elevate a more standard guitar, bass and drums type band format. This track is no stranger to a conceptual underpinning either, as Laura explains: “The lyrics are about class, and my journey to becoming an artist as a working-class person. It references certain materials I’ve used previously – water and flour – and how consumed by the process I get. More generally, the track is about inequality and how many people lack access to basic education and resources, despite curiosity and drive.”

The album title itself has to do with the inevitable passing of time and the incredible absurdity of existence, combined with a questioning of boundaries both imagined and real (as well as being a sly reference to Silver Jew’s ‘American Water’: try new INTERNATIONAL DUST ™️!).