shame

“Cutthroat” is shame at their blistering best. An unapologetic new album with Grammy winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen) at the helm; it’s souped up and supercharged. It’s exactly where you want shame to be. The five childhood friends have grown Shame exponentially, with ambitious sonic ideas and the technical chops to execute them. Having proved themselves several times over with legendary live shows and three critically-acclaimed albums under their belts, Shame went into “Cutthroat” ready to create a new Ground Zero. Stamped throughout with Shame’s trademark sense of humour, the album takes on the big issues of today and gleefully toys with them. They cast a merciless eye on themes of conflict and corruption; hunger and desire; lust, envy and the omnipresent shadow of cowardice. Musically, too, the record plays with visceral new ideas. Making electronic music on tour for fun, Coyle-Smith had previously seen the loops he was crafting as a separate entity to the things he wrote for Shame. Then, he realised, maybe they didn’t have to be.