Credit: Far Out / Ewen Spencer

Sleaford Mods announce new EP ‘More UK Grim’, share new single ‘Big Pharma’

Wed 20 September 2023 12:57, UK

Following the successful release of UK Grim earlier this year and their subsequent supporting set for Blur at Wembley Stadium in the summer, Sleaford Mods have announced a new EP titled More UK Grim.

Recorded during the same sessions as UK Grim, these new tracks extend the duo’s oblique approach to the dancefloor while delivering a characteristically potent offering both critique and celebration of our unsteady times.

The EP’s lead single, ‘Big Pharma’, follows in the footsteps of the band’s most recent material, sceptically exploring the world of conspiracy theories. Yet, wrapped around a funky bass riff, the track showcases Andrew Fearn and Jason Williamson at their most musically agile.

“‘Big Pharma’ was written in the opening chapters of autumn 2022 when Covid kicked in again,” Williamson says of the new track in press materials. “It carries a lot of the normal Sleaford Mods absurdism but also looks at the ongoing fascination with trying to find truths in information wholly pushed by very questionable people.”

He adds: “The term’ Big Pharma’ has been uprooted from its original place, one that rightly threw critique at the pharmaceutical industry as it produced more and more products that would ruin lives on a mass scale.”

“Instead, now, Big Pharma is more familiar as a term used by right-wing and industrial groups trying to mask the financial aims of their arguments with some kind of critical thinking panache-type legitimacy. It just feels wrong. It feeds on hopelessness, widespread fear and generations of unfettered misinformation linked to the limited critical perception we as the masses are burdened with,” Williamson continues.

“There has to be lots of personal responsibility held to account, too,” he suggests. “Recently, Big Pharma has been adopted by the anti-trans movement, so you can see that high-performance bigotry and personal financial interest are never too far away. Much like the next version of the latest smartphone, the features are largely the same.”

Accompanying ‘Big Pharma’ on the More UK Grim EP are the equally immersive tracks, ‘Under The Rules’, ‘Old Nottz’, ‘PO Crazeh’ and ‘My 18hr Girdle’.

Listen to ‘Big Pharma’ below.