The last Primal Scream album was released in March 2016 which, as you may have noticed, was a vastly different geo-political world to the one we currently inhabit. Never one to hide his beliefs, Bobby Gillespie has a few things to say about the state of the world in 2024.
Not that the Scream were always going to be the outlet for it. Gillespie is currently undergoing the most prolific spell of his career, with an autobiography, a collaboration album with Jehnny Beth, numerous guest appearances with the likes of Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee, a soundtrack album and writing for Paul Weller all under his belt this decade. Yet the repetitive nature of Primal Scream work (album, tour, repeat) made him question whether new material was necessary.
Enter David Holmes, who sent Gillespie a piece music he couldn’t help but contribute to, and the Scream wheels were rolling once again for their first album since the death of Martin Duffy two years ago. Yet again, we should be grateful to Holmes, as ‘Come Ahead’ has reinvigorated the band.
The rhythm beat that lit the flame became the hip-swinging, finger-snapping ‘Ready To Go Home’, aka the theme tune of the best cop show you’ve never seen. Its glitterball shuffle lays down a marker, picked up by the rattling soul of ‘Innocent Money’ and the dusky stomp of ‘Love Ain’t Enough’ (the magnificent guitar loop throughout an added garnish). Primal Scream’s long-held love of Stax Records is well-documented, but on this twelfth effort there’s an added frisson of funk.
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Yet there is little frivolity. The stinging ‘Deep Dark Waters’ rails against the religion of the flag, while ‘Love Insurrection’ asks, ‘Are you ready to die for the pie in the sky?’ Yet – ever the socialist – Gillespie also sees other perspectives; the hazy, eight-minute ‘False Flags’ empathises with the lot of the foot soldier, his living circumstances offering little alternative but to enlist.
In contrast, on redemptive hymn ‘Heal Yourself,’ he unflinchingly looks within, while the metallic, quasi-industrial ‘Circle Of Life’ non-judgementally covers the chaotic world of the alcoholic. Where the former is a gospel-flecked soothing balm, the latter shimmers pensively, angst set to music.
Gillespie may be the face of the band, but a word for Andrew Innes whose guitar is understated throughout but frequently sparkles, such as on ‘Melancholy Man’. Lifted from the 5 Hectares soundtrack, he elevates the song while elsewhere adding gnarly swagger to ‘Love Ain’t Enough’. Indeed, the entire album is a career high for Gillespie’s loyal right hand man, while Brian Irvine’s elegant strings provide a classiness that sets Primal Scream apart from their peers.
As righteously indignant and vital as ever, ‘Come Ahead’ is another high in a career full of them.
8/10
Words: Richard Bowes
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