Detail from the cover of The Worm
Apocalypse: The Musical? This highly entertaining second LP by the British art-rockers could be thus described, but the concept is “an anachronistic version of medieval England” and features a 16-piece string orchestra and gospel choir. The follow-up to the camp goth, 80s electro-pop and glam of 2020 debut West of Eden very much feels much more like a theatrical musical, the declamatory frontman Henry Spychalski narrates, defiantly, the story of a parasitic giant worm that has emerged from the ground and is in the process of devouring England in this unholy wonderfully camp rock opera, prog, gospel and jazz fusion. Is it a metaphor for our current crazy, self-consuming Brexit epoch? Perhaps, and contains an evil we must fight against. It’s a fantastically fun, over-the-top listen from first to last, with wit, admirable energy and imaginative, skilled musicianship, with highlights including the title track, the Bowie-esque Wyrmlands (“This time I know things are ‘gonna be worse / Than the last time when they caught us /At St. Pancras, with our pants down, acting ‘sus”), The End Is Now, Past Life Sinnerman's Song, and after many amusing and oddball moments as well as musical dexterity, closing track Lay Me Down. But the whole indulgent witty, doom-and-glory narrative is time well spent, with the turning of an illustrated book to accompany all songs that don’t already have a full video (see playlist below). Epic, grandiose, all-consuming, silly and superb. Out on Lucky Number Music.
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