THE AMAZONS are gearing up for the release of their new album, 21st Century Fiction, next month, which will see the band continue to build on the legacy of their first three studio albums.
The band has always held onto an ethos of personal expression while shifting their focus somewhat.
Their debut album back in 2017 was unabashed and guitar-driven, sometimes ebullient, sometimes abrasive, while their third, released in 2022, was expansive and arguably more introspective than ever.
Despite this, frontman Matt Thomson says that subverting expectations is not the aim of the outfit.
“It’s better than just delivering what people think you’re going to,” he says, “but I don’t really think about things that way.
“It’s more about finding our voice, and a world view; that’s what fulfils us and satisfies us.”
And The Amazons have set their sights on finding that voice with their upcoming album, he explains: “It’s the start of a trilogy of records, our flag in the sand– if we can’t say what we want to within these next three records, then we’ll never do it.
“We’re in a landscape of intensely drawn-out careers full of bands going for 20 or 30 years with nothing to say.
“I’d rather be concise in our work– this is what we want to contribute, then leave it at that– otherwise it’s never-ending.
“This is why the with the universes–Marvel, Star Wars, DC– people start to lose interest when it just keeps carrying on; it becomes boring.”
He says that the low barriers of access to music creation have led to an overwhelm of music and media more generally, of which media multiverses are symptomatic.
“You can make such great work in your bedroom, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all, but it means everyone is contending with such a huge amount of work.
“It feels like in the 21st Century, the only way to forge any identity is by shaking off the ghosts of the last century– politicians and rockstars in their 80s, it feels a bit like there’s nothing really new.
“It’s all just hanging on; we actually don’t need the Stones to go on another tour.”
“People’s pockets have a limit, too–if you’re charging hundreds of pounds for another victory lap, I do feel that detracts from new generations and musicians.”
The album, he explains, is somewhat at odds with that status quo: “I feel there’s a restlessness, a frustration, as a result of living under that shadow of those ideals: hard work leading to a job leading to a house.
“We’re trapped in those circumstances as a result of the hoarding of wealth and influence which hasn’t been passed on.
“That restlessness causes a tension in this album.”
So, with the promise of the record as the beginning of a long-term vision for the band’s output, 21st Century Fiction explores masculinity and the breakdown of larger social contracts amid climate change, instability, and existential dread.
“It explores lethargy and helplessness, and the knowledge that the world is taking a downturn.
“There’s a storm outside the door, and we’re all addicted to our phones.
“Democracy is in peril, but I can’t brush my teeth without a podcast, I can’t dress myself, let alone save it– that’s what Wake Me Up, the last song on the record, is about.
“That and the terror of the passing of time– I’ve taken hitting my 30s badly.
“I think there’s a sense of unfulfilled promises, shared, I think, by a generation.”
Matt knows he is not alone in these feelings, too: “We could turn out to be lost as a generation, I think; loveless cat people renting alone in our seventies, while our Gen-Z overlords turn the Western World in bureaucratic conservative states.”
The Amazons’ fourth album, 21st Century Fiction, is set for release on Friday, May 9.
They’ll be performing at record shops to mark its release, including at HMV in Reading on Thursday, May 15.
Full details and tickets available via: theamazons.co.uk
