Shame have announced a new album. Cutthroat, which was produced by John Congleton, arrives September 5 via Dead Oceans. The English post-punk group has also shared the album’s lead single, “Cutthroat,” alongside a video, directed by Ja Humby, that features lead singer Charlie Steen riding a motorcycle in a wall of death stunt at a carnival, dancing in gold lamé shorts, and more. Check it out below.
Steen, in a press release, cited Oscar Wilde as an influence on the new song. “I was reading a lot of Oscar Wilde plays where everything was about paradox,” he said. “In ‘Cutthroat,’ it’s that whole idea from Lady Windermere’s Fan, ‘Life’s far too important to be taken seriously.’”
Cutthroat is the follow-up to 2023’s Food for Worms. Shame—featuring vocalist Charlie Steen, guitarists Sean Coyle-Smith and Eddie Green, bassist Josh Finerty, and drummer Charlie Forbes—recorded the new album, which they describe as “a joyride,” at Salvation Studios in Brighton, England.
“This is about who we are,” Steen said. “Our live shows aren’t performance art—they’re direct, confrontational, and raw. That’s always been the root of us. We live in crazy times. But it’s not about ‘Poor me.’ It’s about ‘Fuck you.’” He added: “It’s about the cowards, the cunts, the hypocrites. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of them around right now.”
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Cutthroat:
01 Cutthroat
02 Cowards Around
03 Quiet Life
04 Nothing Better
05 Plaster
06 Spartak
07 To and Fro
08 Lampião
09 After Party
10 Screwdriver
11 Packshot
12 Axis of Evil