Turin Brakes give forth their tenth album in a career now spanning 26 years!

Debut album, The Optimist, was very well reviewed and was nominated for The Mercury Music Prize all the way back in 2001. It has been a case of steady releases ever since, though they have never really bothered the UK charts beyond a top five single in ‘Painkiller’ in 2003. They have shifted over a million physical albums though, which shows the consistent quality they have achieved over the years.

The new album starts strongly. After a brief bit of seagull noise Olly Knight’s instantly recognisable voice comes in, always one of their strongest features. ‘The Message’ is Turin Brakes in a nutshell, strong melodies, tight guitar playing and lyrics which just about get you thinking about what the song is really about. This is followed up by the excellent ‘Pays to be Paranoid’ where Gale Paridjanian’s guitar playing comes to the fore. It is tracks like this that have sustained such a long career.

Title track ‘Spacehopper’ is the album highlight. It carries a glorious whiff of ELO underpinning the chorus. There is a vein of nostalgia for youth in this album. It is certainly pictures and portraits of youth that I recognise, though ones that are likely to seem increasingly quaint and old fashioned, or even alien to a younger audience. This is a golden slice of up-tempo indie-guitar-pop.

It seems unthinkable that anyone could actively dislike Turin Brakes. The worst you could probably call them is ‘inoffensive.’ This is a strong collection of tracks from a band that absolutely loves doing what they do. No one only half bothered about it would still be going with all the difficulties of being in a band in 2025.

‘Old Habits’ doesn’t quite soar to the heights some of the other tracks reach but it makes up for it with the gorgeous video that accompanied its single release, featuring footage of the band from their early years. Olly’s voice always sounded older and with a life well lived, his actual appearance has now caught up with what he always sounded like. When it cuts to them working in the studio on the album it is both beautiful and poignant. Album closer ‘What’s Underneath’ is a great ending for this collection. It has a bit more room to breathe at six and a half minutes. It neatly summarises the range of emotions that the rest of the album encapsulates. They might be a bit too under the radar to be regarded as national treasures but for those in the know they never disappoint. Well worth a listen.