Nothing But Thieves step into rock legend's footprints in album three, Moral Panic.
When I stop and think deeply about it, I genuinely cannot comprehend how we've mentally survived this year. Facing this year's lockdown and general uncertainty of the future, thanks to COVID-19, has left many of us feeling in need of support, whether that be; a nice chat, a non-social distanced hug or some words anger and rage to immerse yourself in. If it is the latter, then Nothing but Thieves have managed to provide the perfect soundtrack which reminisces the cluster-fuck of 2020.
Since their formation in 2012, the Essex based band have risen with massive credibility, with accolades including securing two positions as Muse’s support act and gaining silver BPI’s with previous albums Nothing But Thieves and Broken Machine. Great news for anyone living in Essex, when you meet someone and they ask where you're from and undoubtably hit you with the 'OH SHUT UP!' or 'Do you know Joey Essex and Gemma Collins?', please just say 'I live down the road from Nothing But Thieves', if they have any sense of musicality - they might begin to spread the news of this and your county will finally be associated with something other than TOWIE. (Can you guess where I'm from?)
Bizarrely, Nothing But Thieves have managed to encompass the dystopian era of this year into album three without even knowing it was going to happen. Moral Panic was written before the pandemic even begun (eerie or what), and somehow it feels as though it is literally a soundtrack made for 2020.
Track One 'Unperson' is an incredibly raw and intoxicating introduction to the album which nod's its head to George Orwell's '1984'. Vocalist Conor Mason's rambling's in the track refer to the panic and distress the power social media holds over all of us in today's society. Naming the track 'Unperson' specifically refers to the novel's intent of having a person removed from society as though they never existed, something which is conversed within the lyrics, "And maybe I'm flawed, but I do exist". The band uses a whole load of terminology including 'clone', 'doublethink' and 'unperson' to refer to the mind-numbing state of affairs, I could go on as if this was an English essay, however, I am no longer taking my A-Levels. The track also begins to take on a new wave of sound from the band which materialises an essence of drum and bass, something which lead guitarist Dom Craik, loosely compares to The Prodigy.
Eliciting similar themes to 'Unperson', title track 'Moral Panic' appears to be a modern day response to '1984'. In a painfully unfiltered first verse, Mason rips into a likely future ahead, "this is the last day of my life, yours too", this time a nod to a modern day activist, 17-year-old Greta Thunberg, which in the same verse is said "All of the children are so anxious, they're on edge", referring to Thunberg's powerful speech about how it's up to kids to save the planet. In a slightly more delicate tone, Nothing But Thieves once again switch up their sound to something so different it wouldn't feel out of place at a club. Starting with a soft initial distortion and a melancholic haze, the anticipation increases as the instrumentation begins to build. Verse two begins and the initially slow ethereal transitions pick up from a slow rhythm to a much quicker transition, incorporating drums, a change in speed of lyrics and the unlikely feature of a piano. Chorus two peaks and the track transforms from alt-rock to something that really isn't far off a piano led early nineties house track. A huge risk for the band that has most certainly paid off.
The debut single for Moral Panic, 'Is Everybody Going Crazy?' was released just 5 days before Boris Johnson announced the UK was to enter a lockdown, I mean the irony of that. With artist defying tracks such as 'Amsterdam' and 'Ban All The Music' in their back catalogue, this was bound to be another one for the books. With heavy reverb, roaring guitar chords and an impressive Matt Bellamy-esque vocal range at the for front, it's a quintessential Nothing But Thieves track.
Track six, 'This Feels like The End' is yet another epic paradigmatic NBT tune which can be listened to with a sense of hysteria. Previous reviews I've read seem to have turned their nose up at this track, saying it hasn't really got a lot going for it - I personally feel the complete opposite. Delving into it's lyrics and how they're accompanied alongside the music is wickedly magical, the eruption of anger in Joe Langridge-Brown's lyrics make themselves known in the chorus of the track, when guitars explode into an almost early Paramore riff. The bridge undoubtably is the monument of the tune, a distored speech of an American news anchor, digressing a post-apocolyptic speech of a dystopian world. "Your consent is manufactured and you are being sold, categorised and catalogued.", this tuned proper fear into me as a result of watching 'The Social Dilemma' on Netflix, which actually enforces that this is the kind of world we are stepping into. Happy days!
It wouldn't be the Nothing But Thieves we all know and love without a gorgeous spine-tingling rock ballad, and my god the lads pulled through with this one. Track 8 'Impossible' is a huge contradiction to the rest of the album which channels confusion and anxiety, this however is a wander into the mind of someone who is completely infatuated. Ultimately, this is the love song of all love song's, where frontman Conor Mason's venerability is showcased more than ever. Three albums later and his voice sits at an operatic state, it makes it all the more powerful hearing "I could drown myself in someone like you" coming from vocals that are so mesmerising, goosebumps every time.
The final track of the album sees Nothing But Thieves take on a similar shape to Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool. With glittering synths walking hand in hand with a beautifully sombre pattered guitar, Mason's stunning vocals enter once again to draw the music into some sort of lucid dream. As if it couldn't get any lovelier, we get down into the deep dream state in the chorus when a stunning string section enters, and all too soon it gets filtered out - until the next chorus. The rush begins again at chorus two, the string tempo builds and essences of invigorating guitar make themselves known, as Conor belts "I'm gonna hang on this forever", three bangs of the drums promptly enter and the crescendo of the song is reached. Once again, another (somehow) underrated track which I can very much see being a huge crowd pleaser, when that day finally comes.
If it hasn't already become apparent, I think this is an absolutely sublime album and potentially Nothing But Thieves best yet. The band have matured immensely since Broken Machine and have created a collection of songs which can be looked back on in years to come with a great sense of nostalgia and stupefaction, when the meanings of each track are in fact reality.
Listen to:
This Feels Like The End
Impossible
Can You Afford To Be An Individual?
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