The Wombats insist there is “no chance” of the indie band ever being “overtly positive”.
The rock group are back with their first studio album since 2018’s ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’, ‘Fix Yourself, Not the World’, and frontman Matthew ‘Murph’ Murphy has admitted that while fatherhood has made him less “cynical and pessimistic” in his lyrics, he’ll never be an optimistic person.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column, Murph – who has Dylan, four, and 12-month-old Kai with wife Akemi – said: “I can’t be as cynical and pessimistic as the first three Wombats albums are.
“I’ve discovered positivity, spurred by having kids, and wanting long-term pleasure rather than short-term thrills.
“But there’s no chance of the band ever being overtly positive.
“I still see the world the way I always did, I’m just better at analysing it. I’m definitely not worried about losing my cynicism.”
One of the tracks on the new record is ‘Everything I Love Is Going To Die’, but the song itself is groove-laden and upbeat.
Murph said: “The titles can be morbid but when you listen to them that’s not the case.”
The 37-year-old musician’s favourite track on the new LP is ‘This Car Drives All By Itself’, and he explained how each of their records have “one truly special song”.
He added: “I love ‘This Car Drives’, Jacknife Lee produced it.
“It seems we have one truly special song on each album.
“’Greek Tragedy’ on the third, ‘Turn’ on the fourth and for me ‘This Car Drives’ is that special moment again, that doesn’t come around too often.”
The 12-track album was recorded remotely, with Murph in Los Angeles, bassist Tord Overland Knudsen in Oslo and drummer Dan Haggis in London, while they worked with top producers including Jacknife (U2, The Killers), Gabe Simon (Dua Lipa, Lana Del Rey), Paul Meaney (Twenty One Pilots, Nothing But Thieves), Mark Crew (Bastille, Rag’n’Bone Man) and Mike Crossey (The 1975, The War on Drugs, Yungblud).
It’s the first time the trio have created an album without being in the same room, which resulted in them experimenting even more with their sound.
Dan said in a statement: “We’re so excited for people to hear this new album! We’ve explored new genres and pushed ourselves further than ever musically. It will always stand out for us in our memories from our other albums as we recorded it across three cities during lockdown, and we weren’t all in the same room at the same time!”
The band will be promoting the record with a full UK arena tour, including a huge headline show at The O2 in London on April 15.
The tracklisting for ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ is:
1. ‘Flip Me Upside Down’
2. ‘This Car Drives All By Itself’
3. ‘If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You’
4. ‘Ready For The High’
5. ‘Method to the Madness’
6. ‘People Don’t Change People, Time Does’
7. ‘Everything I Love Is Going To Die’
8. ‘Work Is Easy, Life Is Hard’
9. ‘Wildfire’
10. ‘Don’t Poke The Bear’
11. ‘Worry’
12. ‘Fix Yourself, Then The World (Reach Beyond Your Fingers)’