Release Date: Nov 8, 2024
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Universal Music
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Protest dancing. Primal Scream are one of the most chameleonic acts hailing from the UK, whose sonic trajectory over the decades has truly been a rollercoaster ride. There were various moments in their career when the thought of celebrating 40 years of existence would have merely been wishful thinking. Thankfully, they were able to overcome all that rock 'n' roll excess, addictions and various line-up changes, thus, crossing the respective milestone.
Bobby Gillespie and co’s first album in eight years offsets brittle plastic funk and syrupy ballads with meaty riffs and disco beats There's a lot to be said for consistency, especially in a genre with as fickle fans as Ye Olde Rock and Roll. Thankfully, Primal Scream have been one of the most consistent, and consistently exciting rock bands of the past 40 years. They have a couple of truly outstanding albums (Screamadelica and XTRMNTR), a handful of real barnstormers (Evil Heat, Vanishing Point and its dub remix companion Echo Dek, and 2013's masterful More Light), and have never really made a terrible album.
Unless spoiling for a fight, you really don't want to hear the words 'Come Ahead' in Glasgow. Two words plucked from Bobby Gillespie's home city, you'll usually hear the ominous saying in a thick Scottish accent from someone a few Tennent’s deep just before a scrap. It makes total sense then, that Primal Scream are a band meaning business on their twelfth studio album.
The last Primal Scream album was released in March 2016 which, as you may have noticed, was a vastly different geo-political world to the one we currently inhabit. Never one to hide his beliefs, Bobby Gillespie has a few things to say about the state of the world in 2024. Not that the Scream were always going to be the outlet for it. Gillespie is currently undergoing the most prolific spell of his career, with an autobiography, a collaboration album with Jehnny Beth , numerous guest appearances with the likes of Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee, a soundtrack album and writing for Paul Weller all under his belt this decade.
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