For me, Roses Kings Castles immediately evokes the image of a majestic band with numerous members and oodles of instruments.
It is actually just one man who fortunately possesses a rich variety of musical skills that could make Roy Castle’s lovely little face blush like a beetroot. This one man is Adam Ficek, the drum-beating heart of Babyshambles, who can also turn a hand to (deep breath) guitar, piano, vibraphone, accordion, flutes, trumpet, harmonica, tin whistle, recorder and Djing.
Ficek was born in Milton Keynes amidst its cultural identity crisis, “It doesn’t quite know whether it is farmland or city… the residents are left wondering where they fit in, or maybe that was just me”. He enjoyed double album success with the massively acclaim Babyshambles and has now turned his personal talents towards a solo career. His suburbia inspired debut record combines city life narrative with brooding tones sitting upon a folkish ‘Belle and Sebastian’ style rostrum.
One can’t help but think, being a touring friend of Pete Doherty’s, he has been exposed to a rollercoaster of ups and downs which have been absorbed into his work. The releases of the swaggering ‘Sparkling Bootz’ and ‘Entroubled’, have been followed by the release of the self titled album, on Ficek’s very own ‘Sycamore Club’ label.
Listen to Roses Kings Castles’ ‘Winter Brass’ taken from the self titled debut album –
