Nearly five years since their 2013 debut Consumer Complaints, Shopping have continued to grow into a relentless tour-de-force of English art-rock. Building on the razor-sharp riffs of more recent material, the band have toured relentlessly in the years of their absence and now are finally back with “The Hype,” an aptly-named single from their new album The Official Body.
The release finds the trio confronting frustrations of Trump, Brexit, as well as the shutdown of Power Lunches, their beloved rehearsal space, songwriting spot, and DIY venue in East London. “As a band that only ever writes collaboratively, it’s essential for us to actually be together in the room before any song starts to formulate,” the band shared in a statement. “It can be a little daunting when we all turn up, and we only have an afternoon to pull a song out of thin air.”
Despite the conceptual heft of another quote-unquote “political album,” “The Hype” returns to some of the strongest moments of the band’s early unencumbered bliss. With strippled, staccato guitar lines and deadpan male and female vocals, the band locks in on a knitted post-punk groove, as Billy Easter shouts “Don’t believe! Ask questions!” Even as the world teeters toward collapse, Shopping find that the least we can do is dance.
The Official Body is out January 19 via FatCat Records. Check out “The Hype” below.
