By Stevie Connor.
Nothing But Thieves have released their highly anticipated fourth album ‘Dead Club City’, which features the recent singles ‘Welcome to the DCC’ and ‘Overcome’ alongside new single and album focus track ‘Tomorrow Is Closed’ and follows their 2020 charting topping album ‘Moral Panic’. A decade into their career, the band have never sounded as vital, inspired and blisteringly adventurous as they do on Dead Club City – welcome to the new era of Nothing But Thieves.
With socially insightful lyrics and an adept ability to progress their sound and experiment between the diverse genres that shape them as a band, Nothing But Thieves showcased their more sonically left-field sound and made a statement return with the first single from the album ‘Welcome to the DCC’, marking an innovative new chapter with their fourth record ‘Dead Club City’. ‘Welcome to the DCC’ was A-List on Radio 1 and Radio X and has also become the band’s biggest ever airplay track to date. Recent single and epic pop track ‘Overcome’ is currently B-List on Radio 1 and the band recently performed both tracks at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee.
Through their new 11-track album ‘Dead Club City’, the band showcase their city-sized members only club and the album’s tracklist and overall narrative is formed by different characters and story arcs from in and around the city. Is it a shared consciousness? Another planet? The next corporate wasteland? Heaven? Or somewhere else?
Using the club as a focal point, it is easy to imagine the real-world meaning behind Dead Club City. Themes such as advertisement, unity, internet culture, the music industry, ageing and politics, as well as escapism and change are highlighted by the alienation or privilege of a members only club. Creatively engineered by the band themselves, the stories, themes and connections across ‘Dead Club City’ have been revealed in the lead-up to the album through songs, videos and artwork to showcase the overall concept behind the record.
Recorded and self-produced by Nothing But Thieves guitarist Dom Craik alongside John Gilmore (production, engineering) and Mike Crossey (mixing) over six months at Kyoto Studios in Essex, the 11 songs are vividly alive with big ideas, pop hooks, soul flourishes, hip hop beats, crunchy riffs and Conor’s remarkable vocals.
Alongside recent singles ‘Welcome to the DCC’ and ‘Overcome’ and ‘Keeping You Around’, the album includes the epic and intriguing prog-funk track ‘Pop The Balloon’, which brings a heavier side to the album as its closer, the playful and glam ‘City Haunts’, which showcases a new side to Conor’s vocal with a slinky and soulful falsetto, and the stirring rock anthem and album focus track ‘Tomorrow Is Closed’ conveys a backdrop to the whole record with the overarching theme of wanting to escape and find somewhere new.
Nothing But Thieves recently announced a headline UK and Ireland tour in October and November, and with a well-earned reputation for their energetic and impassioned performances, their live show is one not to be missed. Opening with two nights in Glasgow on the 31st October and 1st November, the tour sees the band perform a further 10 nights across the UK and Ireland, including three nights in Manchester on the 4th, 5th and newly added 16th November and two headline shows at London’s OVO Arena Wembley on 10th and also 11th November. After performing sold out dates in Australia, they also announced a North American tour in September and October, with several shows already sold out, and have recently announced a headline European tour in February and March 2024 including two nights at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome which are nearing capacity.
The band toured their third album ‘Moral Panic’ in 2021 and 2022, selling over 110,000 tickets, including their biggest ever London headline show at O2 Arena and a 17,000-seat headline show at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, where they return to as part of their European tour next year.
The past few years have been quite a ride for Southend five-piece. Amassing over 1.2 million worldwide album sales, 2 billion worldwide streams and 250 million video views, they have built up a loyal and wide following for their impactful alt rock sound and achieved global success with multiple gold and platinum records around the world, including Australia, Russia, Netherlands, South Korea and Poland. Their first two albums ‘Nothing But Thieves’ and ‘Broken Machine’ are both now gold in the UK.
In 2020, they released their third album ‘Moral Panic’, which charted at #3 achieving over 320 million streams and saw support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, Virgin Radio and Radio X alongside winning Best Indie Act at Global Radio’s 2021 Awards. The album is now certified Silver and they followed this later that year with ‘Moral Panic II’, with both projects forming ‘Moral Panic (The Complete Edition)’ in 2021. ‘Moral Panic’ followed their 2018 EP ‘What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way’, their 2017 acclaimed album ‘Broken Machine’, which charted at #2 in the UK album chart, and their debut self-titled album ‘Nothing But Thieves’.
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