My Favourite Three Songs From Nothing But Thieves' Moral Panic
Amidst the mix of big-news releases that we have had this week, I almost missed a very important addition to the alternative rock scene. Despite recent controversy, Nothing But Thieves have finally released their third studio album, and in an effort to listen to something other than metal or sad-boy electronica, I decided to give it a chance. Moral Panic features 11 tracks of juicy angst. While famous for their sassy lead vocalist Conor Mason and his enormous falsetto explosions, their latest album sees the band go through many different styles and feels. There are the odd classic Nothing But Thieves anthems dotted throughout, but the tracks that really stuck out to me are the ones that have borrowed themes from prevalent artists, only to be molded into something more unique. These are my top three songs from Moral Panic.
Unperson
You picked the first track on the album? Unperson is the perfect introduction to the album, and this is very important. The band released a selection of singles, Unperson being one of which, but for new listeners like myself who hadn’t been hungrily following the lead up to the release this is the first taste that you get. It is paramount that it creates a good impression. And it does. The track throws both ambient and aggressive synth at the listener, which immediately set its apart from a lot of other artists in the alternative scene (cough, I’m looking at you Royal Blood) and combines smoothly with their typical instrumental approach. The track bounces between suspension and aggression throughout, featuring numerous dynamic drops and big sections. When the song hits it hits. It is a showcase of everything that you can expect from the following music on the record, and it is for this important role that it lands itself on my favourites list.
Phobia
This was a really hard pick. I already knew what my first and last choices were going to be based off of my first listen, but Phobia didn’t immediately stick out to me. It took a couple of runs through and a break in which we watched Billie Eilish’s livestream show for me to realise the subtle potential that this song is packed with. To put it simply, it is quiet, calm and collected, until about a third of the way through, in which the band pick up the rhythm and completely throw off the listener. It does in-fact remind me of Billie Eilish due to this quiet, depressed mood, however when the sass does indeed strike we get blasted with a modulated rhythmic stir-fry of badassery in the form of some weird combination of Marilyn Manson and Jack White. The name of the track perfectly describes the discomfort that the listener is hit with. Er, but in a positive way.
Can You Afford To Be An Individual?
Just listen to this song. Please, just do yourself a favour. And maybe read the lyrics along with it to really get that extra edge of wanting to cry at how relevant it is to the current state of our Western world. Nothing But Thieves have always been exceptional at creating sexy action movie music (see I'm Not Made By Design), but they take this above and beyond with the second to last track of the aptly named Moral Panic as Mason directly challenges and interrogates right-wing American and British views with his frankly brutal and honest lyrics. The song ascends and ascends as his anger grows and the riffs accentuate that anger that many of us feel alongside him. Just listen to the damn song, and remove any easily breakable objects from your close proximity.
All in all, Moral Panic is the perfect composition of angsty rock and emotional indie. Nothing But Thieves continue their streak of releasing picture perfect records and I don’t think any fans of the band or genre will be disappointed by this record. Even I, a snob in my own right, was very happily surprised to find that every song scratched a different spot and, despite not wanting to leave you with that mental image, I can do no more but tell you to give it a listen from start to finish.