Album Review: Millie Manders And The Shut Up – Telling Truths, Breaking Ties

In an era when you often see that tired and over-used hyperbole ‘timeless’, there’s a huge and righteous buzz to be had from listening to a piece of work that is absolutely and vibrantly of its time. Telling Truths, Breaking Ties is that album. It’s the Covid-19, heartless Tory omnishambles, societal breakdown soundtrack that, in its honesty and directness, shines the harshest of lights on the issues confronting individuals today.

The personal is political and, as a great philosopher once said, anger is an energy. These two concepts lie at the heart of Millie Manders‘ songwriting. Climate change and pollution, mental well-being, animal welfare and screwed-up foreign policy are the big headlines. The rage is palpable in every second of songs such as Panic and Poor Man’s Show. This should make for uncomfortable listening – when was listening to a tirade ever enjoyable? Well, this is it, right now. Savour it and soak up the energy.

But magnificent as Millie and her fine band’s attacks on the big issues are, it’s the insights into the songwriter’s personal dark places that hit the hardest. Mental welfare, particularly, is front and centre. Millie gets to talk it out in her music and it’s clear her high-energy and upbeat persona is only one facet of this complex and articulate human being. Not Okay puts the well-meaning ‘it’s OK to not be OK’ platitude to the sword, while Bitter and Broken Record are angry journal entries on failed relationships.

And all of this without a mention of what this album actually sounds like. It’s magnificent. This is the tightest of units and they can deliver frantic guitar-led punk one minute, sublime laid back reggae grooves the next and, best of all, their trademark emphatic horn-flavoured punk ska. Above this, Millie‘s vocal roars and swoops. It’s impossible not to love and be affected by this, especially in an era when the musical mainstream is mining new depths of bland, featureless corporate pap.

It’s almost impossible to pick a highlight from this album. For this reviewer, there is a triptych of songs that crystallise all that is brilliant about Millie Manders And The Shut Up. The first is the lovelorn but driving Your Story that captures the pain and confusion of being chased and then rejected. The second is Burnout which exposes the highs and lows of life as gigging musicians and importance of following your dream. The third is the magnificent, smouldering Glitter Mix which charts a girl’s drug-fuelled decline (“we watch as she fades away …”).

An uncompromising album of sometimes brutal honesty wrapped up in superlative musical expression. An unashamed five star album. Millie Manders And The Shutup should be massive. Let’s make it happen.

Telling Truths, Breaking Ties by Millie Manders And The Shut Up is out on October 23rd, you can pre-order the album via digital service providers and on CD and vinyl here