Album of the month [October]
(5 / 5)
Darlings of the early 2000s, Razorlight have just put out their fifth album – their first album for six years and the first for 16 years reuniting the line-up that was the most successful of their career: singer Johnny Borrell, guitarist Björn Ågre, Carl Dalemo on bass and Andy Burrows on drums.
Is it any good? Well, the PR blurb for “Planet Nowhere” says it is an album that’s as strong as anything they delivered the first time around. Johnny says, “It’s out, ‘PLANET NOWHERE’. Our first album back in six years and the first by all of us since 2008. I’ve said it before but we truly didn’t think this would happen.
“We were never going to put more music out that we didn’t believe in, but I genuinely feel this could be a cult favourite Razorlight record. The reaction live has been immense and might just be some of the best Razorlight gigs we’ve ever done. Welcome to ‘Planet Nowhere’.”
What do the critics say? “An unexpected triumph.” “Utterly addictive”. “Beyond remarkable.” Breath of fresh air.” Do I agree or disagree with those uber-positive plaudits? Er, most certainly I do agree.
One of my favourite albums of 2024, in fact. Confession time: I was never a Razorlight fan, or more accurately, I never bought their music back in their heyday. If they came on the radio in the car, I may be humming along and I never once reached for the “off” button, but they were not on my radar to shell out dosh to add any of their stuff my music collection. Until now…
“Planet Nowhere” is a lovely job. A set of superb songs and performances – [Maybe working with Youth at his studio in Spain was the key to unlocking this new rich creative vein? It is like they never took that long hiatus and is a project which yells out this a unit at the top of their game. I was pleasantly surprised that this LP is as good as it is, and suggested it’d be a good fit for the magazine’s ‘album of the month’ for October.
The 10 track set opens with the single “Zombie Love”, and along with track five “Scared of Nothing”, they made a big impact ahead of release, with highlights including “Zombie Love” being Radio X’s Record of the Week, the band playing sessions for Chris Moyles at Radio X and for Virgin Radio, plus further airplay from BBC Radio 2 and Amazing Radio.
They sold out out their entire October underplay tour in advance and also saw rammed record stores for a slew of promo appearances. They played the majority of the new album alongside their big hitters. The rest of “Planet Nowhere” lives up to the standard of its singles, especially the focus track “Dirty Love”, a gently melodic ’70s-tinged rootsy rock ballad. “Planet Nowhere” starts a new chapter for Razorlight.
Their original era was full of landmark moments, with hits such as “Golden Touch”, “Somewhere Else”, “In The Morning”, “America” and “Wire To Wire” driving three top five albums, nine Platinum album certifications, and live they were headlining the Reading Festival and performing at Live 8.
- On 21st November they play a special sold out “Up All Night” anniversary show at the O2 Academy Brixton. Their plans for 2025 start with a set at Kaiser Chiefs’ big outdoor extravaganza at Temple Newsam Park in Leeds, and Razorlight have just been confirmed as headliners at The Brit Fest in July, where they top a bill featuring Republica, Roachford, Toploader and The Boo Radleys.
Words by Christopher Weston
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’ (5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
