Leeds-based multi-instrumentalist Alexander Fletcher, who performs as The Hope The Fear, has been all over our pages this year. Now, we get a chance to hear a collection of his music for the first time.

By Graeme Smith

His debut EP, Die Northern, opens with a mosaic of warm, captured audio which nicely sets up anthemic, authentic opener Lose Control. It introduces a record that is at times poppy as in You Should Know and at other times channelling Sam Fender-esque folk rock as in Fall Right At the Start. The latter proves a mid-EP highlight.

For the EP, Fletcher was inspired by The Killers, The War on Drugs, and Bruce Springsteen and you can hear those influences throughout. There’s also a distinct Northerness to it all as it touches of social change and working class realities.

“I wanted this EP to capture the tension of growing up in a place that feels like it’s working against you—where success isn’t handed to you, but fought for,” Fletcher explains. “But it’s also about the pride that comes from that struggle—the community, the resilience, and the stories that shape us.”

Die Northern should definitely get The Hope The Fear the attention that the project demands. Fletcher is flying the flag for Yorkshire and we’re proud of him.

The EP is out now and you can give it a listen below.