The Scottish electropop giants return with their first new material in a year or two, a likely prelude to a fourth album later in the year.
The music is even more processed, r&b-influenced than before, and could be quite generic except that there are these quirky hooks and ticks which reference the listener back to those first few releases, a little synth flourish here, a wee drum fill there…
And as for the vocals, they are high-pitched, processed and auto-tuned to an extent, but it is still Lauren Mayberry in all her glory, and the messages she gives are not exactly groovy. They are basically a massive statement of “fuck you” to every guy who has ever patronised her, put her down or given her a misogynistic comment…
“He said” – “You bore me to death”, “it’s all in your head”, “get drunk but don’t be a mess”, “keep an eye on your waistline”… etc.
A bold statement that you can dance to, that was the original DNA of the band, and despite massive worldwide success and the rest, it still is.