Fort Not are a Gothenburg-based duo who in their own words, “emerged out of the fumes of gin and tonic during a west coast summer night”. While the duo have been making music for a few years now, it was back in 2018 that they announced themselves to the world with their debut album, It Is Love, released through Parisian label, Scandinavian Crush. The band subsequently continued their trans-European journey, catching the ear of Madrid’s Meritorio Records, who will release their new album,  The Club Is Open, in September. Ahead of that release today we’re sharing the latest single from the band, Jennie Brown.

Discussing the track, Fort Not have suggested Jennie Brown is a track about, “lost love and trying to convince yourself that she’s not that funny anyhow”. Sadly, for them anyway, if Fort Not are trying to sound like they’re over it, they’re doing a fairly terrible job of it, from the moment the bass-rumbles in they sound somewhat smitten. Whether claiming a deeper understanding of her mental workings, “I don’t think too much but I think that I will understand you in a way that they don’t” or off-handidly cutting Jennie down with the below-the-belt barb, “it’s because your friends all worry about the things you’re going through, you’re not that funny anyhow”, sorry guys, we’re just not buying it.

Musically, the track picks up on the vein of hapless, heartbroken indie-pop janglers from The Lemonheads through to The Goon Sax, this is a world of half-spoken vocals, catchy driving chorus and the constant flash of a bright rhythmic guitar. Sure, it’s a sound that we’ve heard before, yet in the hands of master-craftsmen like Fort Not, indie-pop still has plenty of life left in it. When Fort Not open up the club later this year, expect the floppy-fringed masses to rush back to the dancefloor and gaze longingly at the objects of their desires, a story as old as time that’s still worth hearing when it sounds this good.

The Club Is Open is out September 18th via Meritorio Records. Click HERE for more information on Fort Not.

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