THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Now: It’s a strong word that speaks to the urgency and ethos of Reading rock band The Amazons’ fourth album — and their darkest and most heartfelt record to date. 21st Century Fiction is the sound of “a man in his late 20s, struggling with unrealistic ideals of masculinity and a sense of unfulfilled promise,” surrounded by “a world plagued by chaos.” This is the time to take stock and captain your own ship.
The record “comes from the frustration of being in that place where my 20s were ending and being really cognizant of that,” says Matthew Thomson, of that spot where the adolescent dream collapses under “self-flagellation; always wondering what’s around the corner, always scolding myself for not matching up to some unattainable ideals of what it means to be a successful band or even just a man.”
These were songs that Thomson needed to write, not just to lift himself from the doldrums but for a generation of young males with the same struggles. Take the call-to-arms grunge of Night After Night and the rollicking blues of Love Is A Dog From Hell — both helmed by Catherine Marks at Real World Studios in a reunion with the producer of their first two albums (who has gone on to win her first Grammy after producing The Record by Boygenius).
There is also the tender but towering Go All The Way, through the Jack White snarl of Wake Me Up, and the hard rock undoing of Joe Bought A Gun (the latter squaring up against the cycle of violence in American society), the rest of the album enjoyed the “freeing” experience of being produced by Pete Hutchings (Foals, Royal Blood, Gang Of Youths) — aside from the beefy and triumphant My Blood, produced by Royal Blood frontman Mike Kerr and featuring drummer Ben Thatcher.
How did the teenage Thomson imagine his life as he approached 30? “I definitely imagined financial security, having a house,” he says, admitting that the state of the economy and a music industry in turmoil has seen these milestones fall by the wayside. “I also wasn’t happy about the composition of myself when I looked in the mirror. I spent thousands of pounds in my 20s on personal trainers, supplements and the idea that I was going to be fitter, stronger and look like the people you’d see on Instagram and in the movies. I thought I’d get closer to the ideal of what a man should be: Stoic, doesn’t talk much, sexy, elegant, always knows what to say, has practical skills, and financial fluency. I was thinking about entering my 30s, and I wasn’t amounting to any of that.”
21st Century Fiction signals the emergence of The Amazons’ bold new sound — still loaded with riffs and roaring with aggression, but packed with a whole new level of introspection, energy and grandiose.With three huge Top 10 records and sold-out shows across the globe under their belts, The Amazons are facing their futures fired up and ready to go. Let the show begin!”
