Legendary postmodern, post-punk, post-human, past-caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, Horror is a collection of songs written in late 2022 but providing a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here.

Horror looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed-up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock and roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka, and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on "Sad And Sad And Sad". The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East, woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation.

Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, "Mudcrawlers" sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. "War Economy" shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: "Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!" Sounding like it's straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it's held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet.

Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious "Fallen Leaves", an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective. Its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman's keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch-black night.

Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment, and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds.