First Tiger

First Tiger's music is smart, playful and surprising. The album, Dedicated, is full of syncopated rhythms, lively basslines, off-kilter hooks, and tunes that'll stay with you. Shorts and Stevie started playing guitar together as teenagers in Glasgow, but took to playing gigs a while later. In between times they studied, traveled, worked and lived in different countries. When they both ended up back in Glasgow, they started playing as an acoustic duo around the city. Not wanting their set to be stuck in one gear, limited to one mood, tempo or rhythm, they set about trying to put as much into a 3-minute tune as they could. The tracks are all different, inspired by a variety of experiences and influences. For Pete's Sake gives a nod to Jacques Brel's Vesoul in its contemporary take on escape from a stultifying relationship. Walking On Air takes the opening lines of Fats Waller's Crazy 'Bout My Baby as a starting point, and uses them to get at a completely different set of ideas. Other People's Taste plays with ideas of identity and originality - and the vanity of small differences - with a tongue-in-cheek reference to meeting your doppleganger. Identity, personal flaws, doomed and failed relationships are addressed with a shrug and a wry smile. "We want this album to feel like a fun, catchy piece of work. Stick it on while you brew the coffee."