It seems strange to think that despite releasing their debut single at the end of 1982, there were there were no FIAT LUX albums before 2019.
That single ‘Feels Like Winter Again’ was produced by Bill Nelson and led to a deal with Polydor and his brother Ian joining the founding FIAT LUX nucleus of lead singer Steve Wright and multi-instrumentalist David P Crickmore. There was a six song ‘Hired History’ EP in 1984, but the lack of a hit single saw their intended debut album ‘Ark Of Embers’ short-sightedly shelved by Polydor in 1985.
Ian Nelson sadly passed away in 2006 but Wright and Crickmore returned as FIAT LUX in 2017. Since then, not only were ‘Hired History’ and the previously unreleased ‘Ark Of Embers’ given the Cherry Red treatment and made available in 2019 but there have been two FIAT LUX albums ‘Saved Symmetry’ and ‘Twisted Culture’; both comprised of completely new 21st Century material with Will Howard taking over from the late Ian Nelson as the third FIAT LUX member on sax and woodwinds.
FIAT LUX have returned with ‘Desire & Belief’, their first long player since 2021 and its artwork ably captures the chilly windswept Northern English atmospheres of this album. It begins with the dusky ambience of ‘Summer Solstice’ but as “my world is changing”, ‘Spirit Of The Age’ is spritely yet filled with anxiety. ‘Am I Dreaming’ asks Wright as FIAT LUX enter into a droning darker place that is shaped by a haunting drum manta.
‘Clear Sky’ romps with a jagged synth attack before sax and a guitar solo enter “a space that comforts you”, but there’s a slight air of PINK FLOYD’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ in the structure of ‘I Never Explode’ before journeying into the deep shady moods of ‘Shallow Hollow Souls’. The ‘Desire & Belief’ title song adds percussive tension but after all that, ‘Turn Me Around’ bursts in with some bouncy synth-brassy synthpop.
With a pulsing electronic backbone, ‘Winter Solstice’ must be the first pop song about Seasonal Affective Disorder and is highly relatable, especially with Wright’s emotive Scott Walker tones. To close, ‘All The Stars Have Died’ is a spoken word art piece that mildy gets funky with screeching sax and jazzy breaks.
With its moody disposition and cinematic atmospheres offset by the occasional slice of accessible synthpop, ‘Desire & Belief’ will satisfy those who have enjoyed the work of FIAT LUX since their 21st Century return.
‘Desire & Belief’ is released on 6th February 2026 as a red vinyl LP and CD by Nine X Nine Records
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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
5th February 2026
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