THE DARKNESS upcoming album ”Dreams On Toast”, set for a March 2025 release, marks a bold new chapter for the band. With their signature blend of flamboyant rock anthems and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, this album cements their place at the pinnacle of British rock.
Expect soaring guitar riffs, infectious hooks, and a nostalgic yet fresh take on the genre that will resonate with longtime fans and new listeners alike.
There’s a candid strategy to The Darkness’ albums that can be misconstrued as simplistic or, under worst circumstances, campy to casual observers. But they’re neither, despite the outside appearances.
The British band, which exploded to prominence with their 2003 debut Permission to Land, finely tune their 1970s-inspired, glam-coated hard rock for maximum impact. There’s nothing simple about their methods.
Still, the knowing wink behind Justin Hawkins’ classic rock moves is quick to spot after 22 years. The cover of the Darkness’ last album, 2021’s Motorheart, featured what can only be referred to as phallic-shaped mechanical creatures sprouting from a cosmic netherworld that was tied to a song about having sex with robots. It’s as if Roger Dean’s artwork turned pornographic instead of into fantasy.
Similar amusing touches are all over the band’s eighth album, ”Dreams on Toast”, from its peculiar title to the opening track, “Rock and Roll Party Cowboy,” which somehow manages to encompass the exact hellbent-for-a-good-time attitude its name conveys.
Yet they also reveal a heart beating beneath the spangled jumpsuits and soaring falsetto: “There goes thе best seven years of my life / There goes a girl who only saw me, not my influence or my wealth / There goes the only human being I have ever loved more than I hate myself,” Hawkins sings in the deceivingly peppy “I Hate Myself.”
If Motorheart could be framed as a semi-concept album about relationships in the modern age, ”Dreams on Toast” bears no overriding theme other than have a good time and try to get out alive; if you can’t, that’s cool, too.
It’s easy to name touchstones in the Darkness’ music, from “Rock and Roll Party Cowboy” and “Mortal Dread”‘s AC/DC boogie to the Beatles-via-Queen bounce of “The Longest Kiss” to “Walking Through Fire,” a love letter to the Darkness themselves.
But more than two decades from their debut, ”Dreams on Toast” proves the band is still charting a path of its own making.
Highly Recommended
Tracklist:
Disc 1 (33:10)
1. Rock and Roll Party Cowboy (4:27)
2. I Hate Myself (3:16)
3. Hot on My Tail (3:23)
4. Mortal Dread (3:29)
5. Don't Need Sunshine (3:01)
6. The Longest Kiss (2:49)
7. The Battle for Gadget Land (3:32)
8. Cold Hearted Woman (3:10)
9. Walking Through Fire (2:54)
10. Weekend in Rome (3:03)
The Darkness – Dreams on Toast 2025
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