‘Afraid of Tomorrows’ — The Mysterines — Album review

It would be worth reminding you that I crowned The Mysterines’ debut Record Weekly’s album of 2022. ‘Reeling’ was — and still is — a modern-rock masterpiece that knocked my socks clean off, and I’ve not been able to put it down since. So I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their hotly anticipated follow-up*, ‘Afraid of Tomorrows’.

This devilishly distorted record arrives on the precipice of another busy festival season for the quad. It’s a 12-song collection of rock mastery with mortal introspection by the bucketload, dominated by hypnotic minor chords and an overarching country sensibility. Although a generally slower-paced album than their first, its literary capabilities have gone beyond what we’ve been served before.

Frontwoman Lia herself shared that, “Afraid of Tomorrows is a mirror where you find you’re nothing more than a formless being, one made from celestial constellations — of traumas, of the old and new, mistakes, addiction, fear and happiness, loneliness, but ultimately a desire for life and the fight to keep living.” A quote* I couldn’t help but include here, too — and one that should sway you even further to listening while reading this write-up…

I first heard ‘The Last Dance’ when The Mysterines supported Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. Its scuzzy effect on the studio recording sets the tone for what’s largely to come throughout, and you get this raucous, blistering guitar solo that I can’t help but skip back to hear again and again. And when playing it live, only Lia could make clanging a tambourine against her hand look cool. This catchy start to the offering also provides a flavour of Americana that they started dipping into on ‘Reeling’, but follow through on here. And that faded monologue outro is a nice touch, too.

‘Stray’ came out two days before my 30th birthday, so it has some fun memories and connotations when spinning, while ‘Sink Ya Teeth’, another certified belter, has also been out for a little bit. But despite the scattering of singles, it’s mainly new tunes.

The slower, bass-rumbling ‘Another, Another, Another’ also almost incorporates a spoken-word vocal style, yet in a sort of flowing, American accent. Then, contrastingly, dance-esque drums start off the swaggering ‘Tired Animal’; a steady, slick beat with sheer grunge tones. Definitely up there as a favourite.

Speaking of favourites, proper rock ‘n’ roll in classic Mysterines fashion returns on ‘Goodbye Sunshine’, which I first heard at Live at Leeds: In the Park. It’s deliriously good and gets lodged in your head for days, thanks to the buzzy, raw acoustic strings among the polished electric. And with what sounds like clicking cowbell tinkles, it has so many undeniably great layers. The bombastic, chunky riffs on ‘Junkyard Angel’ — a name I might use as Halloween outfit inspiration — is also right up there.

‘Jesse You’re A Superstar’ is evidence of a sweeter side to their repertoire, where Lia’s vocals are in a higher pitch than we’re used to. And the sombreness of ‘So Long’ makes that track stand apart as well. Then on ‘Inside a Matchbox’, delicately plucked strings, intermittent metronome taps and a slightly Middle Eastern nature pave the way for an even heavier ending.

But the overarching style on this record is country rock. Eerie muted strings are the backbone of ‘Hawkstone’, another that brings the country-esque injection of American rock to the fore, and builds into an anthemic, shootout-soundtracking crescendo at around 2:40. And the title track, which, although I’m skipping forward, as it brings the album to a close, is an upbeat, acoustic-led, country ditty that fits this new brief again. You’d expect to see people boogying around, bottled beer in hand, at a local dive bar as an accompaniment.

So, here, they really take us from Liverpool to the USA and back. Yet again, they’ve smashed it.