Written in a painful period when Shirley Manson had shattered her hip and was in recovery, this is a powerful, defiant, feisty, punchy eighth LP, but also with some vulnerability, by the Scottish/American rockers. Stylish opener There’s No Future in Optimism was written during the lockdown and of George Floyd murder era of 2020 and its aftermath, particularly intense in Los Angeles awash with demonstrations and police (“The night is dark and full of tеrror / The air is thick with helicopters/ Pеople marching, cops are swarming / The city’s on fire and the sirens are screaming”), while Hold, also a love song under tension, captures a similar sense of catastrophe (there was also an earthquake in LA at the same time). Manson, feeding back with the creative process from her sick bed while the band produced music in the studio, originally kicked back angrily against that opener title, but it gave her an energy to rebel, and it made for a interesting dynamic with the more upbeat overall album title. Chinese Fire Horse relates to Manson’s Chinese horoscope sign, one that in traditional times was seen as undesirable, even provoked being killed, because girls born under that sign were seen as difficult and a potential threat. There’s a particularly feminist and anti-ageist thread to this album, provoked when during the last album tour, Manson was asked, when still in her mid-fifties, whether she was considering retiring, much to her ire and astonishment, and in this song she responds with spitting rage. “Yeah, yeah so much older than you / But I’ve still got my power / In my brain and my body/ I'll take no shit from you.” There’s punch and power throughout this album which also interweaves the soft sheen of synths and Manson’s breathier voice, and an musically softer rock side, for example in Have We Met (The Void), or Sisyphus. Other standouts include Get Out My Face aka Bad Kitty, or that classic goth rock sound of RU Happy Now. Dark, seething, angry, articulate, sometimes more mainstream, but also a band have that have always had their own strong sound and identity outside of particular labels. Definitely not retiring anytime soon. Out on Infectious Music/BMG.
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