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Not On The Radar

by Mark Fry

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Dermac
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Dermac Another fantastic laidback sounds for easy listening, kick off your shoes sit back,relax and drift away. The digital remix track is wonderful reminds me slightly of Roxy music Avalon? Maybe
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition solid blue vinyl album with full colour inner lyric sleeve. 500 copies only.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Not On The Radar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £18 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited edition 10 track CD with 8 page lyric booklet. Full colour throughout.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Not On The Radar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £10 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

      £7 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    3 Mark Fry CDs for just £22 (£4 off the normal price) : 'Not On The Radar,' 'South Wind Clear Sky,' 'I Lived In Trees' plus the digital download of all 3 albums and the bonus 'Leaves EP (Fragments From Normandy and England 2010 - 2011).' Note : the download codes for all 3 albums will be sent to you on release day (16th May 2025).

    Includes unlimited streaming of Not On The Radar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £22 GBP or more 

     

  • 'Not On The Radar' test pressing signed by Mark Fry
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    'Not On The Radar' test pressing signed by Mark Fry. Limited edition of 3. Limited to one per person.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Not On The Radar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

    Sold Out

  • Signed 'Not On The Radar' vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    'Not On The Radar' vinyl, signed by Mark Fry on the outer sleeve. Four copies only. Limited edition blue vinyl.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Not On The Radar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

    Sold Out
1.
Only Love 03:14
lyrics
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Only Love Who can stop the world From all its spinning Come to the end Without a beginning Who can read your mind When you sleep Steal away the heart You want to keep Who can see the light In the dark And light a fire Without a spark Only love Only love Only love Who can say it all Without words Hear the morning chorus Without birds Who makes lightning strike Without a storm And wants you back Before you’re gone Tell me who can fly Without wings And sail away Without a wind Only love Only love Only love
2.
Big Red Sun 03:43
lyrics
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Big Red Sun Time won’t leave me alone His dancing feet Stepping on my own Like a glass of wine Going to my head Just a little bit dizzy Unsteady on my legs Time, my bully boy He’s working on his plans That old killjoy But I will run away to Africa With her desert skies And her big red sun In the blink of an eye He’s got doves up his sleeve He’s always waving But he never leaves Time, my bully boy He’s working on his plans That old killjoy But I will run away to Africa With her desert skies And her big red sun And her big red sun But I will run away to Africa With her desert skies And her big red sun And her big red sun
3.
Stormy Sunday 03:39
lyrics
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Stormy Sunday I’ve been looking out the window Getting lost in a daydream Looking at the morning sunshine On the wall The weathermen are telling me It won’t be long till it’s raining I think I’m going to stay at home And do nothing at all It’s going to be It’s going to be A stormy Sunday I’ve been looking out the window The blue sky is going grey Now the wind’s getting up It’s starting to blow I think I’m going to pick up the papers And see what they say Now I can hear the lightning On the radio It’s going to be It’s going to be A stormy Sunday I’ve been looking out the window The trees are starting to sway I tried to give you a call But I couldn’t get through The sky’s turning black And it’s coming this way Like the weathermen said It’s all coming true It’s going to be Oh it’s going to be A stormy Sunday
4.
Where The Water Meets The Land 05:44
lyrics
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Where The Water Meets The Land I used to have all the time in the world An endless rising sun I could dream on the riverbank It had everywhere to run Time was a temple In some faraway magical land A book with no chapters In the palm of my hand I used to have all the time in the world Oh where to begin I could stand on a mountain top And throw it all to the wind Time was a colour Sky blue A tide rolling in With an indigo moon Now I can see it all so clearly I can see where the river ran And I can hear the waves crashing Where the water meets the land Where the water meets the land I used to have all the time in the world I gave it away for free Now I keep an eye on it I keep it under lock and key Time was a temple in some faraway magical land A book with no chapters In the palm of my hand Now I can see it all so clearly I can see where the river ran And I can hear the waves crashing Where the water meets the land Where the water meets the land
5.
Not On The Radar 03:19
lyrics
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Not On The Radar Somebody’s talking in my ear But I don’t hear a thing Somebody’s trying to call me up But I don’t hear the phone ring They’re all trying to track me down But I’m not on the radar I’m going faster than the speed of sound I’m heading for the stars And they shine so bright And they shine all night They shine all night Somebody’s trying to catch my eye But I’m up and gone Somebody’s trying to reel me in But I’m rolling on They’ll never get me in their sights Oh I’m not on the radar And it won’t be long until I’m out of sight I’m heading for the stars And they shine so bright And they shine all night They shine all night
6.
Daybreak 03:57
lyrics
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Daybreak Daybreak Take this night’s heartache I can’t stand it any more Oh it drives me crazy Come quickly, quickly Bring the morning sun to my door Oh I can’t take night’s heartache Any more I close my eyes I try to dream But I know I’m in too deep I’m too far down the stream I lie awake Light a cigarette Oh I know it’s far too late Too late for regrets Daybreak Take this night’s heartache Oh I can’t stand it any more Oh it drives me crazy Come quickly, quickly Bring the morning sun to my door I can’t take night’s heartaches Any more And if I said I would do it all again Even if you stole the sun Only left me cloud and rain Rain for the rainbows And clouds for the storms Come and take the moon away Bring me the dawn Daybreak Take this night’s heartache I can’t stand it any more Oh it drives me crazy Come quickly, quickly Shine the morning sun through my door I can’t take night’s heartache Any more Come quickly, quickly Shine the morning sun through my door No, I can’t take night’s heartaches Any more
7.
Where Would I Be 04:36
lyrics
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Where Would I Be Where would I be without you I’d be flat on my face I wouldn’t know which way was up I’d be lost in space And what would I see without you I would surely go blind I wouldn’t see the sun go down I wouldn’t see it rise Where would I be Where would I be And what would I hear without you Just a ringing in my ears I wouldn’t hear your footsteps Come running I wouldn’t hear your tears And where would I go I would run away to sea And sail the seven oceans But I’d never be free Where would I be Where would I be
8.
Jamais À L’Heure 04:05
lyrics
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Jamais À L’Heure Aux marches du palais Aux marches du palais Y a une tant belle fille, lon la Y a une tant belle fille Elle a tant d’amoureux Elle a tant d’amoureux Qu’elle ne sait lequel prendre, lon la Qu’elle ne sait lequel prendre* I’ve been waiting For over an hour I lit the candles Rearranged the flowers And I’ve been listening For her keys in the door And I love her I love her more and more More and more Elle n’est jamais à l’heure Elle n’est jamais à l’heure I look out the window Pour a glass of wine And put on a record An old one of mine And I love her Like yesterday And this feeling It won’t go away It won’t go away Elle n’est jamais à l’heure Elle n’est jamais à l’heure Jamais Jamais * From the traditional French ballad Aux Marches Du Palais
9.
Rainbow Days 01:47
lyrics
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Rainbow Days Rainbow days April showers Butterflies are flying From flower to flower It’s coming around again It’s coming around Foxes cry In the dead of night Calling out to lovers In the moonlight It’s coming around again It’s coming around The swallows are still here Gliding in the sun They’re weighing up the sky For the home run It’s coming around again It’s coming around again It’s coming around
10.
If I Could 03:12
lyrics
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If I Could If I could have it all again Would I fix that weather vane For blue skies For only blue skies It wouldn’t be the same Oh I know I’d miss the storms All the thunder and the lightning And all the riddles of the sky No rain clouds rolling by It wouldn’t be the same If I had it all again If I had it all again
11.
Digital only bonus track : Not On The Radar (Richard Norris Remix) 06:04
lyrics
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Not On The Radar Somebody’s talking in my ear But I don’t hear a thing Somebody’s trying to call me up But I don’t hear the phone ring They’re all trying to track me down But I’m not on the radar I’m going faster than the speed of sound I’m heading for the stars And they shine so bright And they shine all night They shine all night Somebody’s trying to catch my eye But I’m up and gone Somebody’s trying to reel me in But I’m rolling on They’ll never get me in their sights Oh I’m not on the radar And it won’t be long until I’m out of sight I’m heading for the stars And they shine so bright And they shine all night They shine all night

about

In March of 2024, singer-songwriter Mark Fry staged a rare concert in the picturesque Normandy village of Varengeville-sur-Mer, once the rural hideaway of legendary painter Georges Braque, now home to a contemporary arts space with a capacious gallery that also serves as a striking performance venue . The sold-out show, featuring the singer and his four-piece band, would prove to be a tour de force, offering a timely audit of the 71-year-old Fry’s still-evolving songwriting canon, with a track list judiciously plucked from both his 21st century solo albums and his cult 1972 acid-folk benchmark Dreaming With Alice alongside a tranche of previously unheard material, including one song that had begun life in the course of Fry’s 1980s travels in Mali, West Africa, to be completed, just a touch belatedly, a month before the show.

Indeed, several of the new songs aired at the Varengeville show were the product of an extended 2023 and early 2024 creative roll, and, harnessing the momentum, Fry was eager to record them for what promised to be a bold new album, his first since 2014’s South Wind, Clear Sky. Having rehearsed for the gallery concert with his band – guitarist Iain Ross (Barry Adamson, Laika), double bassist John Parker (Nizlopi), keyboardist/vocalist Angèle David-Guillou (Piano Magic, Klima) and percussionist David Sheppard (Snow Palms, Ellis Island Sound) – in his painting studio deep in the Norman countryside, it seemed logical to use the same creative space to cut a new longplayer, with a nod to illustrious forebears such as The Band’s Music from Big Pink or Cowboy Junkies’ Trinity Sessions.

With David Sheppard producing, assisted by gifted sound engineer/musical wizard Ian Button (Death in Vegas, Wreckless Eric), the majority of the album was to be captured live, the emphasis on spontaneity, the occasional sonic intrusion from Norman weather and wildlife welcomed as part of the documentary feel of the recording. Several hundred metres of cabling, some vintage microphones, an Indian harmonium and an ethereal-sounding shahi baaja were installed in the sun-dappled studio, alongside guitars, amps, drums and Mark’s upright piano, and recording would commence during an idyllic Norman heatwave in mid-June 2024. Remembering to turn off a nearby electric cattle fence that produced what for a while was a baffling hum, the ensemble worked their way through just shy of a dozen new Mark Fry originals in a little over a week, the opportunity to investigate a variety of different approaches and arrangement ideas, without the pressure of a ticking studio clock, a blessing for all involved – as were unhurried, alfresco meals taken in the shade of an ancient quince tree.

The musical results would prove instantly persuasive and consistently magical: the quieter, more pastoral songs proffering an almost uncanny intimacy, the more up-tempo numbers zinging with dynamic immediacy. Most importantly, Mark’s singing voice (typically described by reviewers as some variation on “chocolate cream” when not being compared to his immediate forebears Nick Drake and/or Kevin Ayers...) seemingly buffed to a new radiance, his delivery taking on hitherto unheard shades of both delicacy and gravity and, here and there, a new-found urbane laconicism. It’s difficult to think of a comparably aged singer whose voice remains so unadulterated and affecting. These could be the vocal takes of a 35-year-old, even if Fry’s lyrics, many of them poetic disquisitions on ebbing time, mortality and nature’s waxing and waning cycles, here and there leavened with sardonic humour, tell a contrasting story.

The songs on what was to be dubbed Not on the Radar (an album title speaking to both Fry’s rural isolation as well as his existential disconnection from the entrapments of modern life), are surely among the finest in his now considerable oeuvre. Whether it’s the touchingly ingenuous, vaguely Bill Fay-like ‘Only Love’ (a sort of ‘love song to love’) or the similarly numinous and romantic ‘Where Would I Be’ with its haunting choral coda, the aching nocturne ‘Daybreak’ or the atmospheric, piano-dappled ballads ‘Where the Water Meets the Land’ and ‘Big Red Sun’, this is timeless, personal and genuinely moving songwriting given wing by some beautifully restrained, simpatico ensemble playing.

While building on the fertile, acoustic guitar-based landscapes of earlier Mark Fry solo longplayers, Not on the Radar equally embraces some of the grainier pastoralism of I Lived in Trees, his 2011 collaboration with The A. Lords, and even allows the occasional waft of psychedelia to tint proceedings, notably whenever a plangent shahi baaja arpeggio ripples across the soundscape. But there are unprecedented Mark Fry dispatches here, too, not least the propulsive, guitar-less title track, its insistent percussive groove and electronic glints framing a vocal of dispassionate dislocation that’s more redolent of I’m Your Man-era Leonard Cohen or something by Serge Gainsbourg than anything identifiably ‘folk’. Likewise, the effervescent, African pop-tinged ‘Stormy Sunday’ finds Fry again abandoning his signature six-string while deploying meteorological metaphors against a colourful tapestry of tremolo and highlife guitars, buoyant percussion and wild penny whistles.

Elsewhere, ‘Jamais À L’Heure’ (preceded by Angèle David-Guillou’s endearing reading of the traditional French ballad Aux Marches Du Palais, sung against the clinking of glasses at one of those quince tree-shaded meals) and the semi-ambient, spoken word, almost painterly ‘Rainbow Days’ evoke a tangible sense of the bucolic environment from which all the music on this sensuous album springs. The record closes with the spare but deeply affecting ‘If I Could’ – a sort of life audit as folk hymn, its two brief but perfectly harmonised choruses encapsulating what is, to all intents and purposes, Mark Fry’s Je Ne Regrette Rien, its counsel, to embrace the darkness of life as readily as its light, offering a typically poignant note – simultaneously celebratory and rueful – on which to conclude an album whose meticulous marriage of the sanguine and the elegiac is perhaps its defining characteristic.

credits

released May 16, 2025

All songs written by Mark Fry
Produced by David Sheppard
Recorded by Ian Button
Album recorded in Mark's studio in Normandy, 23-30 June 2024

The band :

Mark Fry
John Parker
Iain Ross
Angèle David-Guillou
Ian Button
David Sheppard

Mastered by Guy Davie at Electric Mastering
Sleeve : Triple Counterpoint (I) by Mark Fry
Photo © Mark Fry
Design : Angèle David-Guillou, Roxy Fry
Artwork : Lisa O'Meara, Lokate Design
Artist photos on this page : © Jackson Pearce White

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Mark Fry Normandy, France

Mark Fry’s 1972 debut album, the acid-folk benchmark ‘Dreaming With Alice’, was followed four decades later by a critically acclaimed 2011 collaboration with The A. Lords, the pastoral ‘I Lived In Trees’, and a further album inspired by the life of Saint-Exupéry, ‘South Wind, Clear Sky’, both released on Second Language. ... more

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