Much-anticipated, Unbroken is New Model Army’s sixteenth studio album, and it arrives at a fractious time in politics to document the plight of the voiceless. Somewhat delayed by the band’s heavy activity of late, including a series of shows celebrating their fortieth anniversary, as well as the Sinfonia orchestral project, it’s taken five long years for the album to emerge, but oh has the wait been worth it. Tackling a range of subjects from personal reflection to social commentary, including the awful Horizon scandal, which draws Justin’s ire on the stunning I Did Nothing Wrong, Unbroken it is a remarkable album form New Model Army, where subject matter and sonics are perfectly paired to utterly absorb the listener’s attention.
It starts with the stabbing guitar of First Summer After, Justin’s familiar vocal allowed space to roam over the sparse backdrop at will, the band slowly flowing into the picture so that when the drums finally hit, they hit hard. It’s a brilliant start, slow burning and all the more powerful for it, the multi-layered vocals recalling elements of early Peter Gabriel, the music an ever-evolving soundscape that takes in elements of folk-rock, post-punk and even post-rock to create an emotionally powerful backdrop. Ceri Monger’s probing bass and Michael Dean’s skittery drums pave the way for the propulsive Language, a track that sees the album gather momentum, only to roar straight into the vital, vibrant Reload, a ferocious takedown of post-Colonialism delivered with punk-rock vigour, all scathing vocals and sandpaper guitars. Particularly pertinent, given that the Horizon scandal has been given a new lease of life by a recent ITV docudrama, I Did Nothing Wrong is a folk-rocker that details the awful situation that emerges when technology dehumanises the world of work to the point that only raw (inaccurate) data is allowed to triumph. Brilliantly written, it sees New Model Army relate the heart-breaking tale with remarkable clarity before an explosive riff emerges to drive the piece to its conclusion. After so frantic a run, the first half is allowed a moment of reflection with the beautiful, acoustic-led Cold Wind, which builds towards a stunning orchestral conclusion that serves to perfect accentuate the gorgeous melody.
Opening the second half, the splenetic Coming Or Going has a none-more-brutal bass line and frantic, overlapping vocals, giving the listener the sense of being trapped in the face of an avalanche, inevitably finding themselves buried by the conclusion. In contrast, the awkward If I Am Still Me is powered by atypical beats and the queasy, quasi-orchestral sound of the mellotron, Justin’s voice fraught with questions, and caught at the heart of this sonic maelstrom. The sound of sirens fill the air as the arty surge of Legend emerges on the back of a stabbing, acoustic riff. A track that that draws from a range of sources, it places elements of The Cure alongside early Gabriel (particularly in the carefully muted percussion, that only allows for the most occasional burst of cymbals) and Amebix to offer up one of the album’s most sonically brilliant songs. An astringent guitar riff paves the way next for Do You Really Want To Go There? A brilliantly realised rocker delivered with muscular power, it just keeps getting bigger, with layer after layer of guitar racing through the mix. In contrast, Idumea opens with one of Justin’s most naked and vulnerable vocals. It feeds into a multi-part harmony delivered over the rolling thunder of Michael’s toms and you find yourself transported to some lost and lonely island way out in the Atlantic, whipped by the spray of the sea and free from the frightening pace of modernity. A remarkable track that takes folk and even choral harmonies to create something wonderfully timeless, it is one of New Model Army’s bravest songs to date. It leaves Deserters to see the album out with its punishing bass riff and murky riffs. It’s a folk-rock beast, and it rounds the album out on a high in one sense, although you can’t help but feel that the stunning Idumea might not have been the more effective finale.
One of the most quietly popular bands on the British circuit, that New Model Army have had such an enduring career is down to their raw honesty (coupled with a fierce refusal to let injustice go unchallenged), and their continued sonic reinvention. Both elements are on clear display on the wonderful Unbroken. From the haunting, cinematic wonder of First Summer After, via the ferocious I Did Nothing Wrong, to the eerily beautiful Idumea, it is music that stirs the heart and thrills the senses. It’s too early, perhaps, to say if it is the best album yet from this eclectic act – as, with all their albums, it requires multiple listens to get the best from it – but it is certainly in the running and, even this early into 2024, it is clear that it will feature high in album of the year lists. A masterpiece. 10/10
UNBROKEN TRACKLISTING
First Summer After
Language
Reload
I Did Nothing Wrong
Cold Wind
Coming Or Going
If I Am Still Me
Legend
Do You Really Want to Go There?
Idumea
Deserters
UNBROKEN TOUR 2024 – PART ONE
Feb 27 – Roadmender, Northampton, UK
Feb 28 – Effenaar, Eindhoven, NL
Feb 29 – La Laiterie, Strasbourg, FR
Mar 1 – Transbordeur, Lyon, FR
Mar 2 – Mascotte, Zurich, CH
Mar 4 – Muhle Hunziken, Bern, CH
Mar 5 – Backstage, Munich, DE
Mar 6 – Wuk, Vienna, AT
Mar 7 – A38, Budapest, HG
Mar 8 – Kwadrat, Krakow, PL
Mar 9 – Palladium, Warsaw, PL
Mar 11 – B90, Gdansk, PL
Mar 12 – Tama, Poznan, PL
Mar 13 – Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, DE
Mar 15 – Valand, Gothenburg, DK
Mar 16 – Katalin, Upsala, SE
Mar 17 – Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm, SE
Mar 18 – Plan B, Malmo, SE
Mar 20 – Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, DE
Mar 21 – Fabrik, Coesfeld, DE
Mar 22 – Batschkapp, Frankfurt, de
Mar 23 – Garage, Saarbrucken, DE
Mar 24 – LKA Longhorn, Stuttgart, DE
Mar 26 – Turbinenhalle 2, Oberhausen, DE
Mar 27 – Hedon, Zwolle, NL
Mar 28 – Het Depot, Leuven, NL
Mar 29 – Tivoli, Utrecht, NL
Mar 30 – Trabendo, Paris, FR
Apr 10 – Tavastia, Helsinki, FI
Apr 11 – Lutakko, Jyvaskyla, FI
Apr 18 – Opium, Dublin, IE
Apr 19 – Mandela Hall, Belfast, NI
Apr 20 – The Garage, Glasgow, UK
Apr 21 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, UK
Apr 23 – Junction, Cambridge, UK
Apr 24 – The 1865, Southampton, UK
Apr 25 – Marble Factory, Bristol, UK
Apr 26 – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, UK
Apr 27 – O2 Academy, Leeds, UK
May 11 – Roundhouse, London, UK
All tour info and ticket links: https://www.newmodelarmy.org/tour
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