At a gig last weekend someone mentioned to BM there was a new Arab Strap album in the works. Whit? Then an announcement today and boom! Christ they kept that one quiet, those sly Falkirk lads!
And here is the first track – and it’s a corker, full of the trademark Strap elements but taking us into new territory. Using the lethal combination of an electronic/techno beat combined with a classic Malcolm Middleton guitar line, Aidan Moffat starts on vocals and the words just pour out.
As usual the lyrical content is dark, ambiguous and contains a brace of deliciously mordant phrases and references, in fact BM has decided not to spoil listeners’ pleasure and surprise by mentioning any of them here, no spoiler alerts. Let’s just say it feels like a further development from the last somewhat unexpected album, itself a massive step forward – and is worthy of repeated listens.
The even better news is that it heralds a brace of 11 further tracks and an album title that is going to have radio producers reaching for the “cut” button, causing Roger Mellie moments – you naughty little boys, sorry big men! Recorded with the “full band”, there will be live shows across the year – The Strap are forging new frontiers, and BM for one is fecking overjoyed… in these dark times we really need them!