Photo Credit: Anya Maya – Razorlight at Wollaton Park – Live at the Hall

RAZORLIGHT return with a full classic line-up for their first highly anticipated album since 2008, ‘Planet Nowhere‘. Produced by Youth (The Verve, James) and released via V2 Records, this album is a perfect demonstration of the band’s charisma and chaotic impact on the indie-music scene and executes the transition from their early 00s sounds flawlessly.

Preceding ‘Planet Nowhere’s release, the band, consisting of original members Johnny Borrell (vocals/guitar), Björn Ågren (guitar), Carl Dalemo (bass) and Andy Burrows (drums), have opted for four singles; ‘Scared of Nothing‘, ‘Empire Service‘, ‘Zombie Love‘, and ‘Taylor Swift = US Soft Propaganda‘, each of which showcasing that classic Razorlight sound that we have all longed for. Reigniting creativity, ‘Scared of Nothing‘ gave the band a newfound direction. Gaining intensity throughout the duration of the song, boasting an infectious baseline and an almost experimental mix of synth sounds, the track that led to a second recording session at Youth’s Space Mountain studio in Spain originally “sounded like shit. Absolute shit.”, according to Borrell. However, after some encouragement from Youth, the song erected “from nothing to something, like a statue coming up out of marble.”. Speaking about the band, Youth broke down the formula for the essentials in a classic RAZORLIGHT track to “a driving bassline, driving drums and a story”, and ‘Empire Service‘ achieves just that. Written collaboratively with novelist Lauren Rothery, Empire Service is based on real conversations between passengers on the New York trainline of the same name, and is full to the brim with chaos and earworm-worthy guitar hooks. Opening the album, ‘Zombie Love‘ oozes fun and positivity, and radiates sounds similar to that of the early 00s alt-punk and indie-rock scenes. Introducing the track, frontman Borrell claims “I was trying to land it somewhere between Outkast, Beck’s ‘Midnite Vultures’ and The Pixies. If I didn’t manage that then sue me.”. Upon first listen, it’s clear that no one will be suing Borrell, as he has certainly achieved his goal. Despite its title, latest single ‘Taylor Swift = Soft US Propaganda‘ actually has nothing to do with Miss Swift herself, so all Swifties can safely put down their pitchforks and flames. Coming in at only 2 minutes long, opening lyrics ‘well this sounds like a filler on a Jonathan Richman album, which means that it’s probably the best song that we’re gonna put on this one’ highlight the confidence, charisma, and dry humour present both throughout the bouncy and quirk-filled track and the album as a whole. Peppered with the undeniable sound of RAZORLIGHT’s earlier work that got them the recognition back in the early 00s, the London-rockers couldn’t have opted for a better selection of tracks to captivate listeners’ attention pre-album release.

Moving onto the remaining tracks from ‘Planet Nowhere‘, boring is probably the last word anyone would use. With a steady indie beat backing the track, ‘U Can Call Me‘ is a classic and bouncy tune, but is certainly an unusual one lyrically (although notably not the most unusual off the album), with ‘u can call me anytime you like, but don’t come running cause I hate cocaine’ populating the chorus. ‘Dirty Luck‘ really tunes into those familiar RAZORLIGHT sounds from their earlier albums, boasting strategically placed pauses and instrumental solos. It even touches on feelings of romance, desperation, and loneliness: ‘You don’t have to say you love me, […] I’m just hoping that you care […} it just sucks when you’re not there’. Perhaps the most nonsensical off the album, ‘F.O.B.F.‘ is a playful and punk-ish noise, gaining intensity throughout the track to end in a dramatic drum solo from Burrows and a perplexing guitar sound from Ågren. It’s worth noting that only once throughout the track is the title ‘F.O.B.F.’ mentioned; will fans ever learn what this acronym represents, or is this a tactical choice for igniting conversation? Leaning away slightly from the London-rockers usual sound, ‘Cyclops‘ is a synth and reverb-heavy tune more on the softer and pop-pier side, but this is nothing fans should worry about, as it still oozes RAZORLIGHT underneath its depth of layers. Not shying away from his notorious bold energy and charisma, particularly akin to that in Razorlight’s earlier catalogue, Borrell opens penultimate track, ‘Cool People‘, with, ‘Who writes this sh*t? There’s no obligation. Who likes this sh*t? Out of desperation.’. Aimed at modern culture within the media industry (‘let’s talk about algorithms’), this is an honest track and a dig at how the industry has changed drastically over the years. Delving into the fact that ‘there are no cool people […] in this band’ (Razorlight), Johnny takes a shot at those artists obsessed over their image and social following, claiming that they ‘hate those phoney montherf*ckers, can’t you f*cking understand?’; consequently, separating RAZORLIGHT from this crowd and proving their authenticity to fans. Boasting a gentle guitar intro that steps into a bouncy, indie sound in typical Razorlight fashion, ‘April Ends‘ closes off the album in style, and feels like it would have fit in perfectly with their early catalogue of work. Whilst representing that classic Razorlight vibe and energy that we all know and love throughout, ‘Planet Nowhere‘ is a fun and flawless demonstration of the band’s maturity and development as musicians over the last two decades.

Filled with catchy basslines, cheeky lyrics, and Borrell’s signature charisma and chaos, ‘Planet Nowhere‘ has the potential to be RAZORLIGHT’s best yet. Given the length of time fans have eagerly waited for a new album from the classic band line-up, it would have been nice to have seen a longer tracklist on offer; however, ‘Planet Nowhere‘ is unmistakably and quintessentially ‘Razorlight’, and will undeniably be a fan-favourite.

Tracklist: Razorlight – Planet Nowhere

1. Zombie Love
2. U Can Call Me
3. Taylor Swift = US Soft Propaganda
4. Dirty Luck
5. Scared Of Nothing
6. F.O.B.F.
7. Empire Service
8. Cyclops
9. Cool People
10. April Ends