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Released on Friday, "Dopamine" is the hard rock
band's 14th studio album, featuring 16 tracks penned during
lockdown, guitarist and songwriter Luke Morley told Reuters.
"Most of it was conceived and written throughout the pandemic,
so there's lots of stuff about isolation and the more positive
aspects, self-analysis," Morley said in a joint interview with
Thunder lead singer Danny Bowes.
"The other theme... is about social media, people's addiction to
it and the dopamine hit they get from holding up their phone and
going, 'Oh, God, I'm lovely today or whatever'."
The record features a mix of sounds - acoustic blues, catchy
guitar riffs, sax solo, accordion and a gospel chorus.
Lead single "The Western Sky" nods to Bowes' and Morley's annual
charity motorbike trip while "No Smoke Without Fire" was
inspired by online trolling.
PERFORMING LIVE
"Across the Nation" is told through the eyes of a band eager to
perform live again, something Thunder will resume soon with a
five-date UK arena tour starting on May 21 in Glasgow. They will
also play several European festivals this summer.
"We're used to making a record, releasing it, and then going out
on the road to play those songs live in front of people," Bowes
said.
"We didn't get to do it on the last album, which was very odd...
These shows have been rescheduled three times so to finally get
to do it now is a bit like getting to scratch an itch that's
been there for a long, long time."
Thunder, who formed in 1989, are known for songs like "Dirty
Love", "Low Life in High Places" and "A Better Man".
Their 2015 comeback album "Wonder Days" was their first to reach
the UK Top 10 in 20 years. Their records since have stayed in
that bracket.
Bowes said they had now come to the realisation that they
"probably had more years behind us than we had in front".
"We just felt it was even more important to make sure that if
one of them... ended up being our last album, we needed to be
able to look back and say, 'okay, we can leave it there'. And so
that seems to be happening more and more with each record."
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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