IDLES have so much love to give that it’s coming out in a bone-crushing hug of noise. Frontman Joe Talbot’s agonies, vulnerabilities, scars, fuck-ups and political angers sit atop swelling guitar sound and powerful drums, his lyrics leading Joy as an Act of Resistance along to become the most infectious, vulnerable and cathartic album of the year.
If you can come to terms with the fact Alex Turner is now a goateed Hollywood aesthete, and not the chippy Lacoste-wearing Yorkshire upstart you fell in love with ten years ago, there’s plenty to enjoy here.