After months of teasers, announcements and single releases, Nothing But Thieves have finally premiered their highly anticipated third studio album Moral Panic today via Sony Music UK. The record is available on standard CD, LP and limited edition picture disc and oldschool casette on their official store, alongside digital download and all popular streaming platforms. Moral Panic contains 11 tracks in total, featuring all of the five singles that have been released so far this year – ‘Is Everybody Going Crazy?‘, ‘Real Love Song‘, ‘Unperson‘, ‘Impossible‘ and ‘Phobia‘.
Upon the release of the album, Nothing But Thieves posted an official message stating how happy they were to finally let the album out in the world, and highlighting the subtle political themes touched upon in the record. The band added: “Moral Panic hinges on what effect the pressures of the modern world and the information age have on us. It’s about people. It’s about you. This one has been cathartic to make. We hope it’s cathartic to listen to.”
The Southend alternative rock five-piece have had a particularly busy year so far with their callendar filled with single releases, music videos, acoustic collaborations and tour announcement that paved the way to today’s release. The clever marketing campaign started back in March with the premiere of the first official single ‘Is Everybody Going Crazy?‘ that set a really high expectation just as the world was going in lockdown, and has already passed 14 million listens on Spotify alone. The second track ‘Real Love Song‘ came out at the end of June along with the official album release date, followed by the electric ‘Unperson‘ that saw the band really turning the heat up in August.
Since then, Nothing But Thieves manage to sneak in another two official premiers of the more mellow singles ‘Impossible‘ and ‘Phobia‘ and even record a unique orchestral version of the former track, recorded live at the prestigious Abbey Road Studios in London. All of this might seem like revealing too much of the album and leaving very little for its actual release day but listening to the full record in its entirety paints a completely different picture and delivers a dreamy yet sobering experience that should not be missed or taken lightly.
:: Thanks to @AppleMusic for the love on the album – read our editors notes interview on the album page ::https://t.co/P6MhfDo9TX — Nothing But Thieves (@NBThieves) October 23, 2020
The beauty of Moral Panic lies within balancing the opposites, going between the familiar Nothing But Thieves sound we have been in love with for the last five years shown in ‘This Feels Like The End‘ and their fresh experimental approach to some of the tracks like the summery ‘There Was Sun‘. The record floats between the fast energetic alternative rock of ‘Unperson‘ and the mellow soulful ballads ‘Before We Drift Away‘ and ‘Impossible‘, it switches between the album’s riotous political charge and its equally strong romantic melodies, and between light daydreaming motiffs and the lyrically heavy angry tirades such as ‘Can You Afford To Be An Individual?‘.
Nothing But Thieves have successfuly generated enough hype to make Moral Panic one of the highlights of the week, and rightfully so. The band celebrated the release with a global online listening party on their Twitter channel with hundreds of fans playing the album together and joining for a Q&A session with the band. With their previous album Broken Machine (2017) Nothing But Thieves reached #2 in the UK Albums Chart and it is looking like its successor might finally give them the well deserved and long overdue commercial peak.
