21st Century Fiction by the Amazons review: roaring guitars to give you goosebumps

The Amazons are four albums into their career as a band and have seemed to have truly found themselves. 21^st Century Fiction enters the music sphere with full force, questioning contemporary expectations of both young men and the current state of the music industry for contemporary artists. Frontman Matt Thomson describes the sound of the album as a ‘man in his late 20s, struggling with unrealistic ideals of masculinity and a sense of unfulfilled promise’ and the band do not fall short of reaching this. It is found not only in their incitive lyricism but their creative decisions in the musicality of the album’s format.

Their 2022 album, How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me, written by frontman Thomson during lockdown appears more mellow. 21^st Century Fiction has a lot of differences from its predecessor in its musicality as well as seeing the Amazons founding member and drummer Joe Emmett make his exit from the band forcing the rest of the members to take a step back and recalibrate their sound. 

In our interview, Thomson told me how the band had been working hard on this album over the last year to master the true tones of each song before entering the studio. And the evidence of this? It's phenomenally clear.

Released September 2024 as a lead single, the album opens with 'Living with a Lie', an undoubtedly amazing opening to this album. We are met with a full minute of orchestrated symphonies with Ella McRobb’s voice beautifully seeping over the strings. The song then erupts into a cascade of guitars and drums supporting Thomson's vocals with lines such as "God knows I’ve tried" and his repetition of "I’ve been living a lie". ‘Living a Lie’ throws us into this dialogue of searching for truth, feeling as if you must live a certain way and discovering yourself in such a disordered and complex society. 

'Night after Night' follows almost as a theatrical reprise of the opening; the fluidity of these two songs is unmatched and clearly signals this continuing feeling of battling all the issues Thomson wanted to raise in this album. This song is panicked, siren-like and urgent. After such a compelling song we are allowed a moment of rest with the acapella interlude, ‘Panic’, but are still reminded to become aware of the problems this album approach with the haunting lines, "panic when you’re calling, panic in the moving, falling falling".

We then crash back into 'Pitch Black' which I immediately noticed that the guitars share similar tonal qualities to the harmonies in the interlude before; really highlighting these lingering, smoky, sounds that support and uplift the lyrics. And I cannot simply move on without mentioning Chris Alderton’s remarkable guitar solo in this song – he really is an outstanding guitarist and one to keep eyes on right now. 

The Royal-Blood-produced 'My Blood' comes up next with Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher taking over the drums on this one – of which is highly incredible. This song almost has a cinematic, running quality, that feels as if you are being chased by something or even better being pulled through the album itself - an impressive effect. We then pause again with the interlude 'Shake me Down' before, admittedly my favourite song on this album, 'Wake Me Up'. The chilling feeling of a whispered "Let’s begin" before roaring into some more startling guitar sounds creates a goosebumps effect for the listener. This song reminded me a lot of that strutting, American 70’s rocker era akin to that feeling you get when you listen to Aerosmith’s ‘Sweet Emotion’ on a summer day. This American-style influence really takes us into a different direction within the album and fits perfectly as a just before the curtains close moment before we address the darker tones of an Act 2. 

We then pause for 'Intermission', an orchestral interlude that arguably could act as a breather but still has this apocalyptic undertone in the composition. This feels like a point of consideration and step back, and a silent nod from the band to say, ‘it’s not quite over yet’. We then enter with a seamless transition to 'Joe Bought a Gun' a chilling and confronting tune that addresses the ongoing cycle of male dominated violence we see in America, and the world. Thomson’s vocals follow hauntingly across heavy riffs. Taking me by surprise, we then see a bluegrass influenced 'Love is a Dog from Hell'. Quick-paced and country orientated, we really see the experimentation and passion the Amazons have taken with this record. 

We fall to a crackling radio transmission at the end of this with McRobb’s vocals creeping in over the waves to introduce our next song, 'The Heat'. The title does not fall short of what this song is, fiery and heated. With lyrics such as "boiling under the surface" this song is an epitome of a heated, syrupy summer night. We pause once more for 'Heaven Now' a seemingly optimistic interlude after our journey through the album. 

Finally, we end with the six minute long, impeccable, 'Go All the Way'. The curtain call, the final bow, a piano led ending before leaving with the last guitar riffs of the album. Thomson’s voice as he sang "see the fear in my mother’s eyes" left me riddled with goosebumps and excitement. The increasing crescendo of Thomson’s vocals leave this album with a withstanding print of well-crafted and hallmark quality. 

The Amazon’s 21^st Century Fiction takes every impressive element of previous records and combines them into this cinematic universe that addresses complex societal issues. Saying this album felt like walking through a film, or book, would fall short of the intelligence and compositions that went into creating this. If anything, 21^st Century Fiction is a modern Odyssey. A musical hero’s journey. We finish with ‘Go All the Way’, our hero returning home, and as we flip the record over, he is sent off once again to face another challenge and Thomson, again, crashes with 'Living a Lie'.

Standouts for me would be: 'Living a Lie', 'Wake Me Up', 'Intermission', 'The Heat' and 'Go All the Way'. A phenomenal album that goes beyond the ability to address politics, personal and societal issues through music. Incredible and provoking. You will read this book again and again.  

4/5