Pete Fij - Up's The New Down
For somebody whose musical career has been so closely associated with melancholy, Pete Fij has chosen a rather unexpected direction for his first proper solo album. Up's The New Down is not a sudden rejection of sadness, nor an attempt to disguise the disappointments that have shaped his songwriting over the years. Instead, it is the sound of an artist rediscovering the pleasure of making music that can be energetic, romantic, occasionally danceable and even optimistic without losing its emotional complexity.
Released on September 25, 2026 through Tip Top Recordings, the ten-track album brings together indie pop, indie rock, post-punk and electronic influences, reconnecting Fij with the electric guitars of his early career while introducing a renewed interest in synthesizers and programmed rhythms.
For listeners familiar with British independent music of the 1990s, Pete Fij needs little introduction. Born Piotr Fijalkowski, he first attracted attention as the singer and principal songwriter of Adorable, the Coventry band signed to Alan McGee's legendary Creation Records.
Formed in 1990, Adorable occupied an interesting position between shoegaze, post-punk and alternative rock. Their debut album, Against Perfection, released in 1993, contained songs such as “Sunshine Smile,” “Homeboy” and “Sistine Chapel Ceiling,” which combined expansive guitars with Fij's distinctive baritone vocals and an unusually dramatic approach to indie-rock songwriting.
Although the group never achieved the commercial success some had anticipated, Against Perfection gradually became an important record for listeners interested in the more melodic and emotionally expressive side of the Creation Records catalogue. A second album, Fake, followed in 1994 before Adorable separated.
Fij subsequently formed Polak with his brother Krzys Fijalkowski, moving towards a sound that incorporated more keyboards, electronic loops and experimentation. The group released Swansongs in 2000 and Rubbernecking in 2002 through One Little Indian, before Fij gradually withdrew from the music industry.
His return came through a collaboration with Terry Bickers, formerly of The House of Love and Levitation. Their albums Broken Heart Surgery in 2014 and We Are Millionaires in 2017 presented a markedly different side of Fij's songwriting, replacing the enormous guitars of Adorable with intimate acoustic arrangements and songs concerned with romantic disappointment, vulnerability and the passing of time.
Those recordings demonstrated how effectively his deep voice could communicate melancholy without requiring dramatic instrumental surroundings. Yet they also established a musical atmosphere from which Up's The New Down now represents a deliberate departure.
The brief reunion of Adorable in 2019 helped rekindle Fij's enthusiasm for electric guitars, while several personal experiences subsequently encouraged him to reconsider the emotional direction of his writing. The end of a long relationship, work in a care home during the Covid-19 pandemic and his experiences as a funeral celebrant brought him into close contact with loss and the more difficult realities of everyday life.
A new romantic relationship, however, introduced the possibility of approaching those experiences from a different perspective.
The album's title captures that change particularly well. Up's The New Down suggests an inversion of expectations, as though optimism has become the more surprising emotional position for somebody accustomed to examining disappointment.
It would be misleading to describe the record as straightforwardly cheerful. Fij remains too interested in irony, contradiction and the less flattering aspects of human behaviour for that. What has changed is his willingness to allow pleasure and enthusiasm to occupy the same space as his familiar melancholic observations.
The opening “Love's Coming Back” makes that intention immediately apparent. Driven by energetic rhythms and prominent electric guitars, the song celebrates the possibility of rediscovering love after a period of emotional exhaustion. Fij's characteristic humour remains present, but the music possesses a confidence that contrasts sharply with the more subdued arrangements of his work with Terry Bickers.
“Hey Sunshine” continues the brighter melodic direction, embracing a warmer form of indie pop without entirely abandoning the ambiguity that has always distinguished Fij's songwriting.
Elsewhere, “Complicated,” originally released as a single in June 2025, examines the obstacles facing two people who want to establish a relationship but find themselves constrained by personal circumstances. The song recognises that affection alone cannot always resolve the practical and emotional difficulties that accompany adult relationships.
That mixture of romantic optimism and realistic uncertainty becomes one of the album's recurring themes.
Perhaps the most unexpected expression of Fij's renewed outlook arrives with “Kitchen Disco.” Influenced by artists such as Beck and LCD Soundsystem, the song introduces a more overtly electronic and dance-oriented approach while celebrating the pleasures of ordinary domestic life.
Inspired by a remark from the woman who became his wife, its central idea is that happiness does not necessarily depend upon wealth, status or spectacular experiences. Sometimes a bottle of inexpensive wine, a collection of favourite songs and an improvised dance in the kitchen can provide considerably more satisfaction.
The presence of his wife's voice in the recording gives the song an additional personal dimension, transforming what could have been a playful electronic experiment into something more affectionate and revealing.
Yet Up's The New Down does not remain permanently in the sunshine.
“Cuckoo” moves towards the darker electronic atmosphere of early-1980s post-punk and new wave, recalling elements of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Human League. Its lyrics are deliberately abstract, drawing upon the vocabulary of espionage and fragmented messages to create a mysterious, almost cinematic atmosphere.
The song demonstrates Fij's continuing interest in experimentation, particularly his willingness to use electronic textures as something more than decoration around conventional guitar arrangements.
“Don't Bring Me Sunshine” offers another example of his talent for turning romantic conventions upside down. Beneath an appealing, retro-influenced pop melody, Fij questions exaggerated displays of affection and the familiar symbols associated with sentimental songwriting.
The apparent rejection of romantic gestures is delivered with enough irony to suggest that the narrator may be considerably more vulnerable than he is prepared to admit. This contrast between cheerful music and emotionally guarded lyrics is one of the album's most recognisable characteristics.
A more introspective perspective emerges on “Actor,” which explores the different roles people adopt within relationships and the danger of reshaping their personalities to satisfy somebody else's expectations. Indie-rock guitars and unsettling electronic textures create an atmosphere that reflects the uncertainty of the subject, while the song's theatrical imagery connects naturally with Fij's longstanding interest in cinema and storytelling.
With “Wake Up Honey,” released shortly before the album in September 2026, the electric guitars become considerably more abrasive. The song draws upon the alternative-rock energy associated with Pixies and The Jesus and Mary Chain, reconnecting with the noisier side of Fij's musical past.
Its narrative concerns a man abandoned by his partner who remains unwilling to acknowledge that the relationship has ended. The contrast between the emotional desperation of the lyrics and the forceful instrumentation demonstrates how effectively Fij can transform uncomfortable personal situations into accessible, energetic guitar music.
Following “Buzz Buzz,” the album concludes with “Fragments,” an extended composition lasting approximately six minutes that creates a particularly meaningful connection between the musician's past and present.
Built around a hypnotic progression of guitars and electronic textures, the song incorporates a guitar motif originally conceived during the Adorable years but never used on one of the band's recordings.
Its reappearance several decades later feels symbolically appropriate. Rather than simply revisiting the sound of his youth, Fij takes an unfinished idea from that period and places it within a contemporary arrangement, allowing an old musical fragment to become part of a new creative chapter.
The album was recorded at Church Road Studios in Hove, East Sussex, with producer Julian Tardo, who had previously worked on both Pete Fij / Terry Bickers albums. Their established relationship provides continuity, even as the music moves towards a more varied and energetic instrumental palette.
Electric guitars remain central, but synthesizers, electronic programming and rhythmic experimentation contribute significantly to the record's identity. Songs such as Cuckoo and Fragments also suggest that Fij's interest in electronic music could become increasingly important in his future work.
What makes Up's The New Down particularly appealing is that its optimism feels earned rather than imposed. Fij does not pretend that disappointment, loneliness or emotional confusion have disappeared from his life. Instead, he seems increasingly interested in what can happen after those experiences, when the possibility of happiness becomes something worth exploring again.
There is also a pleasing circularity to the album. More than thirty years after Against Perfection, Pete Fij returns to the electric guitar with much of his original melodic instinct intact, but with a perspective shaped by considerably more life experience.
The youthful intensity of Adorable, the electronic curiosity of Polak and the intimate melancholy of his recordings with Terry Bickers all contribute something to this new collection. Rather than competing with one another, those different periods now form the vocabulary of a musician comfortable enough with his past to move beyond it.
Up's The New Down is therefore not simply a nostalgic return to indie rock. It is a record about rediscovering enthusiasm without abandoning emotional honesty, allowing humour and affection to coexist with the disappointments that have always informed Fij's songwriting.
Pete Fij has spent much of his career finding beautiful ways to describe what goes wrong. On Up's The New Down, he finally allows himself to explore what happens when, against expectations, something begins to go right.
© Thusblog
