Albums Of The Week: Arab Strap | I’m Totally Fine With It 👍 Don’t Give A F**k Anymore 👍

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Almost 28 years after their debut, Arab Strap have never sounded more essential, and this new record is a fierce testament to their laser focus on wider horizons. Written and performed exclusively by Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat, and finessed with longtime collaborator Paul Savage, the album furthers the band’s transformation from swooning, slow-core romantics to raging, alt-pop chroniclers.

I’m Totally Fine With It 👍 Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore 👍 might sound like the title of an album by a band giving up (it’s just a text from the band’s live drummer that Moffat thought was funny), but in reality it’s an album that stands to clearly define a new creative period for Arab Strap. Coming on the heels of a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1998 album Philophobia, this new album feels charged by a desire to move forward and explore new terrain.

“The tour’s been fun, but (I’m) glad it’s over so we can move on,” laughs Middleton. Moffat echoes him: “The Philophobia gigs have been a way of saying goodbye to the old us,” he says. “It was a very gentle, quiet tour, so I expect this year we’ll just be playing banger after banger — I think we’ve earned the right to make some noise now.”

While not even Moffat would call it a banger, the single You’re Not There is a highlight: A song about a man who still talks to his deceased wife via text message. “It’s a very common part of the grief process now, and it can help the bereaved come to terms with their loss,” Moffat says. “I love the idea that our phones can function as a kind of modern Ouija board — the difference of course being that most people aren’t expecting an answer.”