Jim Hickey decided to write and record his first solo work in Berlin around a year and a half ago. After touring Germany as a session guitarist in the summer of 2005, he felt Berlin had the energy and grit that fit to the song fragments swimming about in his mind. While touring he opened for many massive acts such as Elton John, Ronan Keating, Nena and the Söhne Mannheims. However, tired of being a hired gun for other acts - as a session guitarist since the age of 17 - Jim formed his own band and played around the UK while trying to piece together his ideas. Feeling directionless he struck out on his own and moved to Berlin in February 2006.
There, Jim experienced a new found muse resulting in a landslide of new material. After scraping together a small amount of equipment, he started work on the production and recordings for his new music creating the basis to what would become his first EP "No Faith“.
"No Faith“ is reminiscent of classic Radiohead songwriting while blending a raw sound from his musical mentors Oasis with the energetic drive of the Killers. Rerecorded at LowSwing Studios in Berlin, working with new musicians as well as studio wizard Guy Sternberg lent focus to the raw energy in Jims songs. The result – a mix of Jims intense vocal delivery, strong guitar lines and a powerful rhythm section – is a stunning realisation of Jims songwriting.
In January 2007, after a limited pre-release to a selected group of UK radios, "No Faith" achieved great critical and popular acclaim with radios and listeners alike. This turned into weeks of airplay and rotations followed by extremely positive response which culminated in "No Faith" reaching no. 36 in one Top 40 chart.
"This is one of the best tracks I have heard in a while just everything fits together really well and is an emotional song that grips you."
"The EP has a good solid sound running throughout. The songwriting has a passionate feel to it and vocals sound good throughout."
