After detonating onto 2026’s radar with ‘Look Me In The Eye’, Scottish upstarts FAEDA aren’t easing off the gas, they’re slamming it straight through the floor. ‘All Thorns No Roses’ is a snarling, no-holds-barred statement of intent: darker, heavier, and dripping with the kind of emotional venom that doesn’t ask for your attention, it demands it.
Forged in the far north of Thurso, FAEDA have already proven they can command a room, sharing stages with the likes of Sam Fender, The View, The Lottery Winners, THE HARA and The Luka State. But this isn’t about live hype, it’s about digging deeper, getting uglier, and coming out swinging. And here, they do exactly that.
At its heart, ‘All Thorns No Roses’ is pure catharsis. Frontman Robbie McNicol spits from the wreckage of past manipulation and betrayal, reliving a time when trust was weaponised and control sat firmly in someone else’s hands.
Sonically, FAEDA crank everything up a notch. The gloss of their earlier anthems gives way to something grittier, leaning into alt-rock muscle with flashes of theatrical bite reminiscent of Panic! At The Disco and the anthemic punch of Twin Atlantic. It’s loud, urgent, and built to explode, hook-laden guitars crashing against soaring melodies that refuse to let up.
This is FAEDA at their most unfiltered, and crucially, their most exciting. ‘All Thorns No Roses’ doesn’t play nice, doesn’t smooth its edges, and doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a band levelling up in real time. If this is the sound of where they’re headed, you’d be wise to keep up.