What does Fragile Animals sound like?

Top-tier dream pop that makes feeling comfortably numb in your skin so comforting.

The review of ‘Tourist’ by Fragile Animals

Brisbane alt-rockers Fragile Animals jokingly call themselves “your gloomy pals” on their Bandcamp page. It is a great description, though, as gloom permeates every chord of their songs. Whilst they love big chords and dramatic sound design to let a chorus crash in, Fragile Animals specialise in a bubblegum haze that smears itself over the harder-edged rock to help the medicine go down.

Nowhere is that more apt and better executed than it is on the title track of their new EP ‘Tourist’. The dreamy vocals remind me of a subdued Charly Bliss or Keeley Hawkes’ Transister from the mid-’90s. Airy, and slightly disinterested and disengaged, there is a bright fatigue to the vocals that works perfectly when paired with a dream pop or shoegazey element of rock. Pair that with a band that is firing big, sad chord progressions in a tight production that keeps things from being overwhelmingly fuzzy, and you have an alt-hit anthem in waiting. ‘Sending Flares’ in a grower, not a shower. As it develops, Fragile Animals turn a gently chugging first half into a more jangly dream pop second half with the fuzz turned way down in the distance. This track took a couple of listens to gel with. That’s because it’s structured in a way to work up to the big cathartic finale, whilst giving little away early on. I bet this track works well live.

‘Into It’ is delightfully noodly. The low, brood of the guitars in the verses let a subdued emptiness unfurl, which is only emphasised in the near-instrumental chorus hook. Ringing guitar chords and sympathetic keyboards take over instead of vocals, which is a nifty creative decision. By creating a vacuum in the tendrils of the instruments that you’d expect to give way to vocals, the track can breathe and feel more desolate and gloomy. Clearly, our gloomy pals like to whallow and it works a treat here.

Whilst some of the earlier tracks feature vocalist and bassist Victoria singing in a higher register, ‘Worldview’ is more whispery and lower in register. The track runs along at a taut pace with guitarist Daniel bringing an almost cowboy western showdown-like solo, and drummer Dylan flexes his skills too. Much of this EP focuses on feeling disconnected from the world around you, and being so frustrated at where we are headed as a society, but ‘Worldview’ is the track that tackles this most directly. It is dream pop at its finest, as from riff to motif, everything feels nervous to the touch. That is amplified on the final track on the EP ‘Allergic’. This is a scuzzy, blitz of rolling drums lassoing hanging guitar riffs around your head like you’re on a ship trying to weather a storm. The drums are going at twice the pace of the guitars. A coda of “I can’t change it” on repeat with the driving guitar hook is sublime. It is one of my favourite rock tracks I’ve heard in 2025.

‘Tourist’ is a fantastic EP. Four of the six tracks are songs I’ve had on repeat for ages, and a fifth is about to make its way into that category. Fragile Animals delicately balances dream pop greatness with shoegazey sensibilities, knowing that making each track dynamic is the key to helping their listeners feel comfortably numb. There are some absolute top-tier tracks on ‘Tourist’ that, in a different time, would be on repeat on MTV in its heyday, gaining legions of fans. This is some of the finest and most accessible gloomy rock I’ve enjoyed all year. Welcome to my favourite dream pop release of 2025 to date. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Recommended track: Worldview

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