England’s most distinctive, multiple award-winning, platinum-selling, hugely entertaining rock gods – and one-time saviours of rock’n’roll turned national pleasures – The Darkness are back with their fifth album Pinewood Smile, due for release October 6th through Cooking Vinyl.
Marking the announcement the band have today unveiled the spectacular album opener All The Pretty Girls, across all streaming platforms. It’s also available for download with pre-orders of the album for the instant gratification of fans.
All The Pretty Girls is a glorious, hard-rockin’, autobiographical anthem intellectually examining the fact that when you’re a rock star you get a lot of attention from ladies and discussing the ethical conundrums that come with that.
As Justin Hawkins so eloquently sings with trouser-splitting vocal magnificence; ‘All the pretty girls, like me for who I am / All the pretty girls, when the record goes platinum / Plenty of action, massive attraction, when you’re selling out stadiums / All the pretty girls… and their mums’. Hard-hitting social commentary, right there!
Addressing the forthcoming album and The Darkness’ undoubted relevance in 2017, Justin asks, somewhat rhetorically of the world at large, ‘Why should anybody care? Because if you don’t, we’re fucked!! History will remember us as the apathetic generation who negligently ushered in a dreadful dystopian age that may or may not come to be known as ‘The Rise of the Arseclowns’. We cannot allow this to continue! You may not give a shit about Brexit or Trump, but PLEASE… give a shit about The Darkness otherwise the last bastion of cultural sensibility will fall and our airwaves will be polluted by meaningless pop purveyed by arseholes and morons… Oh wait!’
Returning to save our airwaves from mediocre, auto-tuned tweens and that awful, throbby EDM shite, the album Pinewood Smile finds The Darkness on electrifying form, delivering some of the most sharp-witted, infectious, humorous and downright brilliant songs of their career.
In addition to the cerebral treatise of All The Pretty Girls, the album boasts the swashbuckling Buccaneers Of Hispaniola, the expletive-strewn howl of frustration that is Southern Trains, the hugely emotional Why Don’t The Beautiful Cry?, the globally anthemic Japanese Prisoner Of Love, and the ode to pumping out smash hit after smash hit Solid Gold, which finds The Darkness addressing the turbulent nature of the music industry and how they have enjoyed its flamboyant highs and spectacular lows.
Written in Putney, recorded in Cornwall and produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse), the compositions have all the crucial elements of classic Darkness fare, but with added layers for the ears to peel away at… like a sonic onion but a lot tastier. It also features the drumming and vocal talents of gorgeous new band member Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of Queen legend Roger Taylor, who shares vocal duties with Justin on two of the tracks.
To celebrate the release of their comeback album Pinewood Smile, The Darkness will be touring extensively at the end of this year playing 17 dates in the UK throughout November and December including a headline show at London’s Hammersmith Eventim Apollo on December 10th (see dates below). The shows are part of a wider European tour, full dates can be found at here.
The Darkness have returned revitalised, re-energised and ready to take the world by the balls once again with Pinewood Smile.