We Speak Alternative

Fellow Robot release huge glacier-like force on the ears, ‘Crash & Burn’!

Published

4 years ago

April 12, 2023

Don Reed

A group portrait of five men in dark jackets against a bright blue background, with one man in the foreground wearing orange-tinted glasses.

“Stuffed silly with energy but incredibly accessible for fans of all genres”- Gigwise

Californian Indie-rock group Fellow Robot are back with ‘Crash & Burn’, the second single from their upcoming cinematic album “Misanthropioid”. Fellow Robot has teamed up with Andrew Scheps (Green Day, RHCP, Adele, Metallica, Hozier, Johnny Cash) who helped co-produce and mix ‘Misanthropioid’ from his home studio ‘Punkerpad’ in Titton, UK. Scheps joined the team during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and over the course of two years helped the band complete the album remotely. Fellow Robot’s latest album will be released through Scheps’ own ToneQuake Records.

The vulnerable lyrics on new single ‘Crash & Burn’ ask the sincere question, “Do you need me anymore?” Revealing further on the track’s themes, Fellow Robot frontman Anthony Pedroza explains, “I wrote ‘Crash and Burn’ for my partner, Luis, who I love dearly, and I know he loves me too. Luis is my work wife who I cherish. When I wrote “Crash”, it wasn’t clear if we would continue making music together. We were both going through some tumultuous times, and honestly, I fucked up and betrayed his trust.”

‘Crash & Burn’ is also the first song Anthony tracked vocals on after losing his voice for 4 months when he caught Covid in 2020. Relearning how to sing, the result is a poignant, honest, and real performance. Paired with luxurious synths by Heather Sommerhauser, big drum beats by Luis Renteria, ‘Crash and Burn’ is a huge, infectious, and emotional glacier-like force on the ears.

Fellow Robot originally started out as a concept piece in 2016, pulling lyrics from the sci-fi novel “The Robot’s Guide to Music” written by singer Anthony Pedroza. While deeply rooted to its origins, “Misanthropioid” is an album that lives closer to reality than science fiction however blurred those lines are these days.

Fellow Robot named their new album ‘Misanthropioid’, due to its brutally honest lyrics and melancholy feelings surrounding what it is to be a human. “It’s our soundtrack to the last few years” says Pedroza, adding “it’s a diverse take on the perception of emotion, especially regarding how we feel about our fellow humans”. The band does well in reflecting their disappointment of humanity, especially in the opening track ‘Rabbit’ which is a clear reflection of the BLM movement in the US. However dark ‘Misanthropioid’ is, it’s ultimately hopeful within its vulnerable and carefully stitched arrangements. The album at times is theatrical and dramatic, each song seemingly being sung by different characters in a stage production, especially in songs like ‘I’m Going to Hell’ and ‘The People Next Door’. “Society has many voices, and the space in between the harshest opinions are the most truthful”, says drummer, engineer, and cofounder Luis Renteria.

The origins of Fellow Robot are not abandoned as lead singer Pedroza’s novel has been adapted to a graphic novel, its first chapter being released this March through Donut Sounds Record Co. based out of Seattle. The Comic book has been beautifully illustrated by Josh Wolf, and features lyrics from Fellow Robot’s previous musical releases. “FELLOW ROBOT” the comic book takes place in both the future, past and present and is a mind-blowing treat for all loyal fans of the band. Here’s a brief synopsis to whet your appetite:

Among the debris on the outskirts of Saturn is Station FR29. Aboard the station is Fellow Robot, once a magnificent machine, now in disarray with the sole purpose of saving humanity through music. Only Fellow can disrupt the discordant frequencies that his human brother has created. Weak and on the brink of death, Fellow Robot must transfer his melodies and memories to Jason the Musician starting from his creation in 1929. Fellow’s last ditch effort to save humanity is through love, a feeling that his brother Frank Jensen has long forgotten.

In Issue #1 of FELLOW ROBOT, we get a glimpse of a dystopian future and a glimmer of hope and optimism in the past. This 15 Issue Graphic Novel has elements of historical and speculative fiction from a robot’s perspective amidst epic space battles, societal commentary and of course, Science Fiction. Fellow Robot and his human brother, Frank Jensen are diametrically opposed and throughout the run the debate of nature vs nurture is explored. FELLOW ROBOT is the tale of how a machine became a hero, and how a man became a villain.

We recommend highly that you get stuck in.

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We Speak Alternative

Dominic Fike Returns With Third Album How To Quit Smoking

Published

24 hours ago

November 1, 2026

We Speak Media

Dominic Fike. Photo via @dominicfike.

Dominic Fike has released his third studio album, How To Quit Smoking, out now through Columbia Records. The album arrived on October 30, 2026, and runs to 15 songs, with Apple Music filing it under Alternative. It is his first full length since Sunburn in 2023 and follows his 2020 debut, What Could Possibly Go Wrong.

The rollout leaned on a run of singles that showed the record’s range. Wallflower served as the lead single, Small Town followed, and Pangea landed late in the campaign, close to the album’s arrival. Fike announced the finished product to his followers with a simple message on release week: album out now. The title, and the hashtag he paired with it, frame the record as a document of habits confronted head on, and the songs move between guitar led confessionals and the melodic pop instincts that made him one of the most watched young artists in alternative music.

Fike was born in Naples, Florida, and broke through at the end of the last decade with a sound that refused to sit in one lane, part indie rock, part hip hop, part bedroom pop. What Could Possibly Go Wrong introduced that blend to a wide audience, and Sunburn deepened it with a more personal, hometown rooted set of songs. How To Quit Smoking now becomes the third chapter, a 15 track statement from an artist who releases albums only when he has something to say. With the record out in the world, attention turns to how Fike will take these songs to the stage, and to which of the new tracks follow Wallflower and Pangea into his live set.