Family Stereo share new single + video “DLR”

Family Stereo, the recording alias of singer-songwriter Blake Watt, will release their debut albumThe Thread on 31st July via Bella Union. An album of folk-tinged and brush-stroked reflections on distance and connection,The Thread is both dynamic and subtly cinematic, its artfully crafted precision the work of a fast-maturing talent. Following the singles “Fault Lines” and “Waiting On Nina”, today Family Stereo share the album’s propulsive new single “DLR”. Led by lush piano, lap steel guitar and xylophone twinkles, the song’s upbeat indie-rock melody frames the contemplative lyrics about growing up with youthful spritz. The track is accompanied by a charming video in which Blake gets kidnapped and taken on a personal odyssey – watch HERE.

The Thread arrives in the aftermath of a string of singles from 25-year-old Blake, son of Everything But The Girl’s Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt. The development from those early works is clear, but it’s the kind of evolution that prefers to refine rather than embellish. As Blake says, “I think my writing has been getting more pared-back as I’ve progressed. I find more and more that simple is better. I love telling a story in the simplest way or conveying a feeling in the simplest way, with not too many frills.”

Formerly a drummer, Blake began making his way toward these songs of travel and distance when he took up the guitar at 15. From influences including Elliott Smith, John Martyn, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Adrianne Lenker, he made formative forays into folk-pop with songs such as ‘Robot Boy’ and ‘My Favourite Band’; whimsical gems with a distinct sense of levity and unforced melody. He honed his voice live, across slots at festivals including Kendal Calling and headline shows at London’s Windmill and the Lexington. Eagle-eyed audiences might have spotted him at London’s Moth Club in 2025 performing with a reconvened Everything but the Girl, where a cover of ‘Removed’ held firm amid a carefully curated setlist. With support from John Kennedy on Radio X, standout EP tracks like ‘Matter’ and ‘I Knew I Loved You Then!’ plotted a sure, steady growth, while the gorgeously autumnal ‘Early Promise’ has notched up an impressive 218,000 Spotify streams.

Building on – and, to some extent, dismantling – those foundations,The Thread was recorded over nine months in the north London studio of album producer and close collaborator Sam Hodder-Williams, who also provided string arrangements and multitasked across acoustic/electric guitar, mandolin, synths and more. “Musically, I wanted to explore folk songwriting but with a kind of lush arrangement,” says Blake. “Sam is very good at realising a sound, and he can write string arrangements, and we wanted to throw everything in the pot but keep it kind of natural. I wanted to explore the pared-back thing but then his arrangements are quite lush, and I think they complement each other quite nicely.”

With collaborators including Pendo Masote on violin, Tom Allan on banjo, Ella Bleakley on backing vocals (‘Tunnels’) and George Vaux on bass helping add hints of colour, the result is an album of lush melodies and moods, a record that moves at its own pace, maps out a space of its own making and invites the listener in. “There’s so much good music coming out at the moment and it is quite an understated record,” says Blake, “but I hope that people give it some time. I’m just trying to explore the craft as much as I can and to get better all the time.” Follow The Thread, then: it will lead you somewhere special.

1. Remedy

2. Waiting On Nina

3. Sea Change

4. Fault Lines

5. The Thread

6. Removed

7. Collapsing

8. DLR

9. Silhouette On The Hill

10. Three Moon Trail

11. Tunnels