The Amazons - 21st Century Fiction

The Amazons' fourth record feels like the moment someone flings open the curtains the morning after a bender - stark, sobering and unexpectedly revealing. '21st Century Fiction' is what happens when a millennial guitar band grow up and realise their UCAS personal statements might have been selling them a bit of a fairytale.

'21st Century Fiction' opens with the industrial growl of 'Living A Lie', immediately establishing a darker, more confrontational tone than their previous work. The production, shared between Catherine Marks and Pete Hutchings, with Royal Blood's Mike Kerr popping in to sprinkle his magic over 'My Blood', gives the album a muscular polish that serves both its heavier moments and quieter reflections.

The record truly finds its stride with 'Pitch Black', a tightly-coiled spring of a track that showcases the band's evolution. Here, they blend their trademark guitar work with a sense of restraint and release.

Thematically, the album grapples with the fiction of guaranteed progress - that neat narrative of university, career, and home ownership that's proved increasingly hollow for a generation. Frontman Matt Thomson's approaching-30 wobble becomes a lens through which to examine broader societal myths, particularly around masculinity and success. The American influences throughout are unmistakable, notably on 'Love Is A Dog From Hell', which carries a distinctive Southern edge. It's a direction that suits them.

By the time we reach the closing ballad 'Go All The Way', The Amazons have painted a complex picture of a band in transition. There's an admirable fearlessness in their willingness to push beyond comfortable boundaries, and the result is a record that captures both the anxiety and urgency of realising the dress rehearsal is over and it's time to make your mark.

This might not be the album some fans expected, but it's arguably the one The Amazons needed to make. In questioning the fictions we've been sold, they've discovered some essential truths about themselves.