Arab Strap – ‘I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore’ album review: a discerning update
THE SKINNY: Nearly 28 years after releasing their debut record, The Weekend Never Starts Round Here, Arab Strap share their eighth studio album. The release is titled I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore, which the duo stylised with a thumbs-up emoji after “it” and “anymore” on the cover artwork. The name is characteristically satirical; upon hearing the album, it would appear the opposite is true.
In press materials, vocalist Aidan Moffat noted a difference between the “old” Arab Strap and the “new”. He claimed that “phase one” had “focused on the ugliness and messiness of romance as a youngster,” but that’s not what he “sings about anymore. It feels like two different bands.” Indeed, the Scottish project has evolved over the years, but this new release retains that all-important sonic identity for the most part.
Instrumentally, Malcolm Middleton guides the listener through alluring scapes, sometimes opting for gentle acoustic arpeggios, at others raising the tempo with danceable synths. At 12 tracks long, the album perhaps could have had some fat trimmed away, but on the whole, a variety of styles, including a rock-out opener, keeps the record entertaining on a start-to-finish run-through.
Despite Moffat’s claim that Arab Strap doesn’t try to “recapture a sound they used to have,” he returns to his favoured lyrical style. In predominantly first-person compositions, he addresses the listener in a wry, dour manner, covering a range of situations pertinent to the modern world. There are conceptual and sonic nuances, but this is Arab Strap doing what they do best in a welcome return following 2021’s comeback album, As Days Get Dark.
For fans of: Trainspotting, headbanging and the caber toss.
A concluding comment from Superhans: “I like it. This is probably the best example of the sort of stuff we do we’ve ever had.”
I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore track by track:
Release Date: May 10th | Producer: Paul Savage | Label: Rock Action
‘Allatonceness’: This charming opener is a straight-up, no-nonsense rock track with a marching rhythm and some enveloping stream-of-consciousness lyrics from Moffat. [3.5/5]
‘Bliss’: In the second track, we enter a soundscape more commonly associated with Arab Strap. A pacey synth line and drum machine beat prevail alongside a prominent bassline. As the intensity builds, Moffat ruminates over a female muse. [4/5]
‘Sociometer Blues’: This one is hectic and percussive, but Moffat’s voice remains soft and controlled at the core. “You take all my time / You take all my strength / You steal my love,” Moffat sings, supposedly targeting the same muse. [4/5]
‘Hide Your Fires’: Over a jittering synth beat, Middleton lays some attractive guitar melodies. With discerning production, the song slips through several chapters of varied intensity. [4/5]
‘Summer Season’: We might expect to be in high spirits as summer approaches. Alas, the summer can still be chilly up in Scotland, and Arab Strap seem pensive and angry in this overcast moment. [3.5/5]
‘Molehills’: Middleton brings another acoustic progression of arpeggiated chords under a gloomy and oppressive sky. Echo-treated drums provide the structure as an answer-phone style spoken word segment seems to describe the titular mole. [3.5/5]
‘Strawberry Moon’: In a change of pace, this track raises the tempo to an almost danceable pitch. However, a macabre tone prevails in Moffat’s sneering, whispered vocals. [4/5]
‘You’re Not There’: Faithful to the album’s running theme, this song addresses someone in elusive desperation. Meanwhile, a mirage of dark synth-laden sound pulsates with keyboard progressions that develop throughout. [3.5/5]
‘Haven’t You Heard’: Here, Moffat appears to address the listener with some dejected thoughts about humanity in a similar tone to the album’s title: “Hearts won’t mend, and wounds aren’t healing / The world won’t care about how you’re feeling”.
‘Safe & Well’: This stripped-back number leads with a sumptuous acoustic progression with faint orchestral strings accompanying in the middle. Meanwhile, Moffat tells an abject story of the narrator’s death and the public’s reaction. [3.5/5]
‘Dreg Queen’: In the penultimate song, we return to the synths for a periodically rapturous soundscape. The music soars in perhaps the album’s most stoic and optimistic moment: “We’ll dance right through the city / We’ll sing so low / We’ll rise above” [3/5]
‘Turn Off the Light’: This aptly titled closer rounds out the album on a gradually building instrumental. In the beginning, oscillating synths seem to placate proceedings for a tapered finish, but approaching the latter half, a cacophonous wall of sound brings a final flourish of intensity. [4/5]
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