Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Britain’s demise: “There’s no change; nobody is helping anybody”
The world has changed considerably since Sleaford Mods first arrived, and not for the better. However, the ripple of dismal events has created the bleak apocalyptic backdrop for their new album, The Demise of Planet X.
The duo, consisting of producer Andrew Fearn and vocalist Jason Williamson, have been a voice of anger during unprecedented times. While their rage is still there, unravelling in Williamson’s lyrics, there is now also an acceptance of the weird dystopia that we are all living through with no revolution on the horizon.
The new record is their first in two years, but it didn’t come easily for the pair. Williamson, who spoke to Far Out over Zoom, admits that the making of The Demise of Planet X, their eighth album in 13 years, was a “fucking brutal” experience that took six months, and also saw him crippled with self-doubt.
The studio work began in January 2025 with Williamson recalling, “Andrew had accrued about 22 loops that I was working on from sort of early 2023, and I was convinced a lot of them were goers, but they weren’t.”
While five of the tracks recorded in those January sessions did make the album, Williamson admits that he was plunged into a “kind of like existential crisis”, explaining, “I think this self-doubt kicked in, which it normally does, but this, this time round, it felt a lot bigger.”
Thankfully, a change of surroundings proved to be fruitful, with Sleaford Mods heading down to Abbey Road, which got their creative juices flowing.
Collaboration is another aspect of The Demise of Planet X that makes it tick. There aren’t many artists who could bring together Game of Thrones actor Gwendoline Christie, who steals the show on ‘The Good Life’, and Nottingham grime MC, Snowy, who adds bundles of energy to ‘The Kill List’, to the same album. It also boasts features with Aldous Harding, Sue Tompkins, and Liam Bailey.
The unexpected link-up with Christie, whom he praises “gigantic presence in the world of creativity”, all began when she followed the band out of the blue on Instagram. “She just kept liking stuff, and eventually we started talking. She said, ‘I want to work with you,’ and I said, ‘Well, what do you want to come in a video?’ And she was like, ‘No, that’s too far away and too obvious’.”
Then, the invitation came in from Williamson for her to appear on a song, and ‘The Good Life’, which also features vocals from Big Special, finally had the missing piece of the puzzle. It was a song that Williamson had been kicking around since 2023, admitting that despite his best efforts, “It just didn’t quite gel” before Christie was on board.
Another highlight of the record is ‘Bad Santa’ that finds Sleaford Mods referencing Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, and even turtleneck-wearing comedian Dapper Laughs.
Williamson explains of the track, “I think as men, we all suffer from being part of a patriarchal system, and we all suffer from misogyny. You know, we are perpetrators of it. The song discusses the weight of that, and also bemoans these figures that are doing senseless things with it.”
It also touches on being criticised online for everything from the size of his kitchen to the car he drives, which Williamson finds to be a “creepy” invasion of his personal life, explaining, “People kind of got this weird idea that you owe them one because you’re a little bit better off than they are, or you’ve sold out because you’ve surrounded yourself with a bit of luxury from the hard work you’ve done.”
Social media is another theme across the album, which Williamson has grown to hate. In the past week, a month after our interview was carried out, a live performance of their 2021 single ‘I Don’t Rate You’ has racked up millions of views on X, with the comments section littered with people making the same tired jokes about Sleaford Mods sounding like Super Hans from Peep Show.
This minor controversy is on the light end of other backlashes they’ve had over the years. Most notably, in late 2023, Williamson cut a concert short in Madrid after an audience member repeatedly threw a Palestinian flag on stage, followed by a statement which began, “Don’t be asking me to pick sides for something I ain’t got any real idea about.” He later issued a more thought-out statement calling for a “meaningful ceasefire” and “no more killing”.
On being at the centre of a social media firestorm, Williamson admits, “A lot of this is kind of getting a taste of your own medicine, you know, being cancelled god knows how many times online. And I used to be part of that cancel thing, judging other people. So a lot of this album is a kind of coming of age through having a taste of your own fucking medicine.”
He adds, “I’m trying now not to be so present online. In that sense, I’ve kind of learned my lesson. I don’t necessarily go attacking anyone online, and I try not to answer trolls as well.”
For Williamson, the reason why people turn to social media to vent their frustration with the world is deeper than a desire for a quick dopamine rush, claiming, “A part of the reason why people are so nasty to each other at the minute is this idea of helplessness.”
On the album’s closing track, ‘The Unwrap’, Williamson tackles consumerism and how online shopping has become an addiction that is a welcomed distraction from the world crashing down outside of our homes. He explains, “The album discusses all of these big issues, these serious things, this devolution of humankind, and this attempt to try and make life better, but the unwrap is the only thing where really this true activism is in consumerism.”
He laments of the modern world, “People have built platforms, bands, whatever, politicians on digital platforms on this idea that they’re big activists and they’re making a change, but they’re not. There’s no change; nobody is helping anybody. The only thing we’re really doing is contributing to the revolving cycle of capitalism. The one thing that we can turn around and say we’ve done today is bought another pair of trainers.”
While Williamson did stress that “financially contributing does help when we’re talking about Gaza or Ukraine”, he’s angered that we are “at the mercy of these authoritarian idiots” that have largely left us as “spectators” of the world we inhabit.
The 2020s so far have been a decade filled with a pandemic, war, genocide and little to be cheerful about. A Reform UK government, led by Nigel Farage, now looks like an inevitably fitting end to a decade of darkness, and while Williamson believes it will be a disaster, he says, “I want them to come in so it completely destroys what they are. Or, it serves that much unrest that we pull through it and start doing actual things that are going to benefit humankind.”
He elaborates, “If we can make their uselessness even more transparent, then perhaps, we can start building a real future out of the rubble.”
One way that Sleaford Mods are attempting to make the world a little bit better, albeit on a minor but nevertheless admirable scale, is through their £5 ticket scheme for low-income fans. While it’s not going to solve world hunger, if it means that people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to attend can enjoy a few hours of escapism, then it’s a welcome initiative.
Despite not putting any measures in place to prevent people from taking advantage of the scheme, Williamson says “people are very respectful” and “we found that it worked”. Although other artists haven’t taken their leads, Williamson is understanding that most musicians are struggling too, and also concedes, “we’re a two-piece band with a laptop,” which reduces touring costs greatly.
As much as Williamson knows he doesn’t have the answers to the world’s issues, Sleaford Mods are here to soundtrack the end times, and if his prediction about the future of UK politics comes true, then it might be a long wait until there’s reason to celebrate.
The Demise of Planet X is out now via Rough Trade Records and is available to purchase here.
