Label: Virgin EMI
Released: 17th August 2018
Rating: ★★★★
If ever you thought you knew what to expect with a band, it was Slaves. But in reality, they’ve never quite fitted into the “two angry punks” pigeonhole that was assigned to them following their 2015 debut Are You Satisfied? After a rapid follow-up that managed to chuck both hip-hop and Baxter Dury into the mix, their lean third, ‘Acts Of Fear And Love’, throws another curveball by dialling down both the volume and the political rants, turning instead to matters of a much more personal nature.
The album opens in familiar territory with ‘The Lives They Wish They Had’, complete with a classic rampaging, pulverising finale alongside screams of “Slaves! Slaves! Slaves!” ‘Bugs’ drips in claustrophobia and sheer uneasiness, a track that gives the sensation of being squeezed into a broom cupboard with the duo screaming directly into your face. However, ‘Acts Of Fear And Love’ is far from business as normal. That dying-days-of-Britpop vibe still washes all over early single ‘Cut And Run’, the combination of fuzzy guitar, lo-fi sound over deceptively simplistic lyrics sounding ever more like 13-era Blur. ‘Magnolia’ swaggers in like peak-Suede, chucking in some jaunty “woo-hoo”s at its climax. This is the sound of Slaves with the punk shackles removed.
The gentle rhythm of ‘Daddy’ and the vulnerability shown on album highlight ‘Chokehold’ show a real evolution of sound. Laurie Vincent’s guitar dances and dives throughout, making it genuinely thrilling when it crashes in on ‘Photo Opportunity’, a track that feels like a cover of a lost Specials track with its melancholy air (“Now my pockets are full, but the sky is grey”). The closing title track is the beating heart that has pumped new blood into the Tunbridge Wells duo, with its message that “There’s no such thing as hate, only acts of fear and love”. Doing something completely different to what you expect while still sounding utterly like themselves is a trick many bands attempt, but few pull off as successfully as this. Lots to love, nothing to fear.
