A discography film
Frightened Rabbit
A shy art student from Selkirk, his brother on drums, five albums that made Scotland sing along, and the tiny changes that came after.
Scroll to play the film. The pictures are made of dots: move over them, and play a sample to see them move with the music.
2003
Mum’s frightened rabbit
Scott Hutchison grew up in Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders, and at 18 went to Glasgow School of Art to study illustration. In 2003 he began playing solo shows as Frightened Rabbit because, he said, “Scott Hutchison is not a catchy band name at all.”
His brother Grant moved to Glasgow in 2004 and joined on drums, and the guitarist Billy Kennedy came in early in 2006. They sent demos to FatCat Records, which put three of the tracks on its website, the start of what the label called “a wonderful relationship.”
- The name was his mum’s nickname for him. He was so shy as a child, he said, that he was kept back a year at nursery.
- At high school he had a reputation for terrible band names. Two he remembered were Nixon and the Rolling People.
- The early band had no bass player. Kennedy’s second guitar dropped an octave to fill in the bottom end.
Sources: Guardian 2010, Spin 2010, FatCat 2007. Photo: Matt Janicki, CC BY 2.0.
May 22, 2006
Sing the Greys
Hits the Fan, reissued by FatCat in 2007 · produced by Marcus Mackay, recorded at the Diving Bell Lounge, Glasgow
“Your high horse is in fact a pony”
In February 2006 the trio booked into Marcus Mackay’s Diving Bell Lounge in Glasgow to record a better demo. Those recordings became the debut album instead, released that May on the local label Hits the Fan.
FatCat reissued it in 2007, remastered, and the band supported it with their first full US tour, several dates of it opening for Pinback.
- The songs had already been recorded three times on Scott and Grant’s home setup before the Diving Bell sessions.
- A handwritten note in the label’s press release said: “Anyone can be in Frightened Rabbit. You just have to bring something to blow into.”
- By the time the reissue reached American shops, they had already finished recording the next album.
Sources: FatCat 2007, FatCat 2007 (news), Hits the Fan 2006, Genius. Sample: a 30-second preview from Apple Music.
April 14, 2008
The Midnight Organ Fight
FatCat · produced by Peter Katis, recorded at Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, Connecticut
“You should sit with me and we’ll start again”
In the summer of 2007 the band flew to Connecticut to record with Peter Katis, who had produced the National’s Alligator and Boxer. Grant later said they arrived with very little studio experience but clicked with Katis at once.
The album was recorded in two weeks and mixed over the fortnight that followed. Its songs trace the end of a long relationship, and some of them were older than Sing the Greys.
- The title comes from a line in “Fast Blood”.
- “He pushed us at times and we pushed back harder,” Grant said of Katis, “which meant the swear words stayed on the record!”
- At a New York show that spring, Grant splintered three drumsticks before the band had got through two songs.
Sources: Paste 2019, Stereogum 2018, FatCat 2008, Pitchfork 2008, DiS 2009, Wikipedia: The Midnight Organ Fight, Genius. Sample: a 30-second preview from Apple Music.
March 1, 2010
The Winter of Mixed Drinks
FatCat · produced by Peter Katis, recorded mostly at Castle Sound, Pencaitland
“I salute at the threshold / Of the North Sea of my mind”
After touring The Midnight Organ Fight into early 2009, Scott spent seven weeks writing at a friend’s house in Crail, a seaside village in Fife. He walked the coast every morning, and the sea worked its way into the songs.
He called the record “semi-fictional” and “much less about me.” It was the first album Andy Monaghan played on, and its arrangements were fuller, with strings and brass.
- It was their first album to enter the Billboard 200, where it reached No. 84. In the UK it reached No. 61.
- The title comes from a line near the end of “Living in Colour”.
- Scott’s note on “Man/Bag of Sand” for Clash is mostly about JB Penman’s, the butcher in Crail: “the best bacon I’ve ever eaten.”
Sources: Guardian 2010, Pop Cop 2009, DiS 2009, Clash 2010, Billboard, Official Charts, Wikipedia: The Winter of Mixed Drinks, Genius. Sample: a 30-second preview from Apple Music.
February 4, 2013
Pedestrian Verse
Atlantic · produced by Leo Abrahams, recorded at Monnow Valley Studio, Rockfield, Wales
“Would you come and brighten my corner? A lit torch to the woodpile”
Pedestrian Verse was Frightened Rabbit’s first album for Atlantic, and the first on which Scott shared the songwriting with the rest of the band. “It had to stop being my sort of solitary ego project,” he said.
They recorded it in South Wales with Leo Abrahams, who Scott said “threw our music into areas we had not previously imagined,” and for the first time they recorded live as a five-piece. Ten years later the band called it “the album we were most proud of.”
- The title comes from a line in “State Hospital”. Scott called it “a gauntlet I threw down for myself.”
- It reached No. 9 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 in Scotland.
Sources: Clash 2012, Diffuser 2013, The Mancunion 2013, Clash 2023, Wikipedia: Pedestrian Verse, Genius. Sample: a 30-second preview from Apple Music.
April 8, 2016
Painting of a Panic Attack
Atlantic · produced by Aaron Dessner, recorded near Woodstock, New York, and in Brooklyn
“I saw a glimmer in the dark and now I know”
After nearly eighteen months on tour the band were worn out, and Scott moved from Glasgow to Los Angeles to be with his girlfriend. He wrote the lyrics and melodies in California while the others wrote music in Scotland, and they traded sketches by email.
Aaron Dessner of the National produced the record, starting at Dreamland in the summer of 2015 and finishing in Brooklyn. “Great songwriters touch a nerve,” Dessner said, “and I think Scott really touches a nerve with these songs.”
- It went to No. 1 in Scotland and No. 14 in the UK.
- It has more electronic sounds than their earlier records, such as the electronic drums on “Get Out”.
- It was their fifth and last studio album.
Sources: Paste 2016, Red Light Management 2016, Wikipedia: Painting of a Panic Attack, Genius. Sample: a 30-second preview from Apple Music.
2018 onwards
Tiny changes
In April 2018 Scott and Grant released Dance Music as Mastersystem, a band they formed with the brothers Justin and James Lockey. Later that year Scott died by suicide. That December the band played his songs in Glasgow with guest singers, among them James Graham of the Twilight Sad.
In 2019 his parents, Ron and Marion, and his brothers, Neil and Grant, founded Tiny Changes, named after his line “while I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to Earth.” It is Scotland’s first national young people’s mental health charity, and it backs young people who run mental health projects in their own communities.
- Tiny Changes: A Celebration of The Midnight Organ Fight came out in 2019, with covers by Biffy Clyro, Julien Baker, Ben Gibbard, Lauren Mayberry and the Twilight Sad among others, and its proceeds went to the charity. Scott had been a huge part of organising it.
- The Winter of Mixed Drinks was reissued for its tenth anniversary in 2020, and Pedestrian Verse in 2023, with a replica of Scott’s original notebook.
- If you’re struggling, you can talk to someone any time: Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or call or text 988 in the US.
Sources: Stereogum 2018b, KEXP 2018, The Skinny 2019, Tiny Changes, The Fader 2019, Stereogum 2019, NME 2019, Paste 2020, Clash 2023, Samaritans, 988 Lifeline. Photo: Bruce Baker, CC BY 2.0.
Sources
- Guardian 2010 · Jude Rogers, "Frightened Rabbit in the headlights", The Guardian (2010)
- Spin 2010 · David Marchese, "How They Became… Frightened Rabbit", Spin (2010)
- FatCat 2007 · FatCat Records, "Frightened Rabbit – Sings The Greys" (release page, archived 2009)
- FatCat 2007 (news) · FatCat Records, "Frightened Rabbit Debut LP Released In North America, On Tour Now" (2007, archived)
- Hits the Fan 2006 · Hits the Fan Records, Sing the Greys press release (2006, archived)
- FatCat 2008 · FatCat Records, "Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight" (release page, archived 2009)
- Paste 2019 · Steven Edelstone, "Exclusive: Frightened Rabbit’s Grant Hutchison Shares Tiny Changes Album Notes", Paste (2019)
- Stereogum 2018 · Ryan Leas, "The Midnight Organ Fight Turns 10", Stereogum (2018)
- Pitchfork 2008 · Rebecca Raber, "Frightened Rabbit: Midnight Organ Fight", Pitchfork (2008)
- DiS 2009 · Dom Gourlay, "2010 Preview: DiS meets Frightened Rabbit", Drowned in Sound (2009, archived)
- Wikipedia: The Midnight Organ Fight · Wikipedia, "The Midnight Organ Fight"
- Pop Cop 2009 · "I didn’t make the album I wanted to last time - I had to exorcise that feeling", The Pop Cop (2009, archived)
- Clash 2010 · "'The Winter Of Mixed Drinks' Track By Track", Clash (2010, archived)
- Billboard · Billboard, Frightened Rabbit chart history: Billboard 200
- Official Charts · Official Charts Company, Frightened Rabbit: full Official Chart history
- Wikipedia: The Winter of Mixed Drinks · Wikipedia, "The Winter of Mixed Drinks"
- Clash 2012 · Robin Murray, "Frightened Rabbit Announce New Album", Clash (2012)
- Diffuser 2013 · Eric R. Danton, "Frightened Rabbit Discuss New Album 'Pedestrian Verse' + Religious Imagery and the Scottish Temperament", Diffuser (2013)
- The Mancunion 2013 · Joe Goggins, "Interview: Frightened Rabbit", The Mancunion (2013)
- Clash 2023 · Robin Murray, "Frightened Rabbit's 'Pedestrian Verse' To Be Re-Issued", Clash (2023)
- Wikipedia: Pedestrian Verse · Wikipedia, "Pedestrian Verse"
- Paste 2016 · Eric R. Danton, "Frightened Rabbit on Painting of a Panic Attack and Nearly Calling It Quits", Paste (2016)
- Red Light Management 2016 · "Frightened Rabbit Announce The Release Of 'Painting Of A Panic Attack'", Red Light Management (2016)
- Wikipedia: Painting of a Panic Attack · Wikipedia, "Painting of a Panic Attack"
- Stereogum 2018b · Ryan Leas, "Mastersystem – 'Notes On A Life Not Quite Lived'", Stereogum (2018)
- KEXP 2018 · Dusty Henry, "Frightened Rabbit Announce Their First Show Since Scott Hutchison's Death", KEXP (2018)
- The Skinny 2019 · Jamie Dunn, "Scott Hutchison's Family Launch Mental Health Charity", The Skinny (2019)
- Tiny Changes · Tiny Changes, "Our Story": the charity Scott Hutchison’s family founded
- The Fader 2019 · David Renshaw, "Listen to Julien Baker cover Frightened Rabbit’s “The Modern Leper”", The Fader (2019)
- Stereogum 2019 · Ryan Leas, "Grant Hutchison On The Frightened Rabbit Tribute Compilation Tiny Changes", Stereogum (2019)
- NME 2019 · Andrew Trendell, "Frightened Rabbit share emotional making of 'Tiny Changes' tribute album documentary", NME (2019)
- Paste 2020 · Paris Rosenthal, "Frightened Rabbit Announce 10th Anniversary Reissue of The Winter of Mixed Drinks", Paste (2020)
- Samaritans · Samaritans, "Contact Samaritans": free, any time, on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland
- 988 Lifeline · 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 in the US, any time
- Genius · Genius lyric pages, for the exact wording of each quoted line