Radical Friendship Theory - Radical Friendship Theory (LP/CD) (pre-order)
Radical Friendship Theory - Radical Friendship Theory (LP/CD) (pre-order)
Artist - Radical Friendship Theory
Release - Radical Friendship Theory (LP/CD)
Side A
1. Considering (3:17)
2. Things to Do In Winter (3:10)
3. Listen to The News (3:01)
4. Radical Friendship (4:10)
5. The Words (3:06)
6. The More That I Think About What We Should Do (2:47)
Side B
1. Stay With Us (3:43)
2. Across The Great Divide (3:57)
3. Always In Landscape (3:29)
4. Sense Of Time (3:29)
5. Nobody Wants To Live In This House Anymore (3:05)
6. Is This Real Enough? (4:05)
Label - Spinout Nuggets
Cat No. - SN184
Release date - 31st July 2026
Radical Friendship Theory was formed through a collection of like-minded musicians.
Robert Rotifer (singer-songwriter and guitarist/bassist with everyone from Louis Philippe & The Night Mail to Swansea Sound, The Penrose Web, Papernut Cambridge, Keiron Phelan and Fay Hallam's band) asked Kenji (formerly of sunshine poppers Friedrich Sunlight, co-inventor of GlasGoesPop) why he wasn't singing in bands anymore, and it all ballooned from there into a luscious LP featuring, besides Robert & Kenji, post-Glam veteran John Howard, young Viennese talent The Zew, living she-punk legend Helen McCookerybook and everybody's favourite singing drummer Ian Button.
The original idea was that Robert would write songs for Kenji's voice whose gorgeousness naturally guided him into a melodic baroque pop direction. Lyrically, too, a theme evolved about friendship, mutual encouragement and the state of the world.
What started out as home made demos in unfamiliar keys grew into fully fledged arrangements. Everybody involved sings lead on a track or two and harmonies on everything, so the album itself is the musical embodiment of the Radical Friendship idea, not in theory but in practice.
Radical Friendship Theory is not a band, it's a lovingly realised set of songs in a wide range of styles and arrangements, from baroque pop, to psych, from country rock to bookish indie, sung by a circle of friends between Glasgow, Kent, London, Berlin and southern Spain – a celebration of actual human, creative friendship as a life-saving alternative to a world of fake digital engagement, captive consumption and artificially sown division.
All songs written by Robert Rotifer except 'Across The Great Divide' written by Kate Wolf.
Limited to 300 copies (also on CD).
Line Up:
Ian Button - Drums, Keys, Vocals.
John Howard - Vocals, Keys.
Kenji - Vocals.
Helen McCookerybook - Vocals.
The Zew - Vocals
Robert Rotifer - Guitars, Bass, Keys, Percussion, Vocals.
Notes:
Recorded in everybody’s homes and at Sunday School, Rolvenden Layne.
Mixed and mastered by Ian Button.