Not On The Radar (the demos)

Second Language Music, 2025

With a painting, the starting point, the first tentative gestures, the endless paths you might have taken, are soon lost in the journey. When writing a song, those first moments when it’s taking form can be recorded. In that sense, the songs on this album are preliminary drawings to larger paintings.

I recorded these demos as I wrote the songs in 2023 / 2024, some of them in my studio in Normandy and some with Iain Ross in his little studio in London. This very limited edition vinyl release is only available (appropriately enough) from Norman Records.

David Sheppard, who produced the full band album of ‘Not On The Radar’, released in May 2025, wrote of this demos album:

“It stands as a document of process – offering the opportunity for track-by-track comparison for those already familiar with ‘Not On The Radar’. Crucially, it also makes for a very fine standalone album in its own right which, if nothing else, bears testament to the inherent robustness of Mark Fry’s songwriting.”

 

 

“The original album is a lovely folky work that shows that Fry can still make evocative and poetic music, but there’s something about these demos that have a much more direct feel – Fry is speaking directly to you, the music unvarnished as if he’s performing the songs solo in a room to a very small audience…

… If the sound of those raw, lonely albums such as Pink Moon or Down Colourful Hill suit your listening tastes then this ‘demos’ edition may be your preferred vehicle… Taken on its own terms Not On The Radar (demos) is a pure distillation of the intermittent craft of one of the UK’s most undervalued songwriters.” – Best Album Of The Week, Norman Records

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