Track Review: Slowthai - Never Again

Slowthai has been making waves for quite some time now. I remember a friend of mine begging me to come to a Slowthai show in some record shop, whilst he was relatively unknown. After the release of his debut album "Nothing Great About Britan" Slowthai has been continuing to establish himself not only as a successful artist but a prominent voice for disenfranchised people all across the UK.

This hasn't changed with Slowthai's latest release "Ugly" This album is a visceral experience, using punk influences to portray a story of a man struggling with mental health issues. My favourite track from this record by far is "Never Again".

In This track, Slowthai describes a former lover, and how her life develops after their relationship. This is told through scattered scenes, including her confronting him to tell Slowthai that she is proud of how he has gained success. Slowthai describes how he still has her pictures on his phone and how he sleeps on "Your side of the bed". This is reinforced by a lively drum break that helps drive this story. Piano notes convey a hopeful emotion. This drum break ceases as Slowthai concludes this story, informing the listener that this woman met a tragic fate as he falls to his knees.

Never Again is a masterful work of art and storytelling. If anybody has been curious about listening to this album, I would highly suggest checking out this track. This will certainly be one of my contenders for song of the year.

I give this track a (9+)

(My scores will be based on a combination of numerical grading from 1-10 mixed with an alphabetical grating system such as B+. As an example if I feel that a track or album is of good quality but just missed the next numerical grade I would give this a score of 7+ rather than a 7 or 8).

Thanks for reading,

Luke Puzzar