Category: Featured Stories

If you happen to like METRONOMY, MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS or CAMDOGZZ, by all means please read on!

After a four-year hiatus, Thieves Like Us return with their fifth eponymously titled record. The Swedish/American band, named after a New Order song, tracked and produced the new record in late 2015. The new self-titled record reinvents the band’s cosmic song based aesthetic with the introduction of live bass (Thomas Franklin) and drums (Tore Knipping), steering its songs into more spirited waters.

Vocalist Andy Grier introduces the new video for Moon:

“When Thieves Like Us began, we were often too busy recording, or touring to shoot our own videos. Calm moments were few and far between and when they did occur, we were either not in the same city, or didn’t have a proper budget to film a music video up to our standards. While we could have opted to shoot on digital film, we are huge cineophiles and we were certain we would compromise our aesthetic in making a “real” music video. We felt it best to re-edit cult movies. The images matched our music, and, it was fast and affordable. Our first single Drugs In My Body was made up of clips from Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. We released this back in 2007, I think. It comes across as some kind of commercial to move to Berlin and live a raver’s existence. We liked the look of cult films to our music, so we just continued in this manner. Sometimes fans even do their own film re-edits to our songs. These are great.

We do often mix in some grit with the videos, say drugs, or glamour. That’s part of our make-up, and part of the branding. Maybe that’s just surface bait to get people watching or listening in order to eventually get them THINKING. We’ve been labeled as a party band, but that’s really not the case at all. We do like danceable music. But most of these tunes have a broader societal meaning. If I step back, and deconstruct the texts of the songs, I would say they are about human relationships. We live in a patriarchal society. Many of the texts are about the evil that men do (myself included), say man exploiting fellow man or woman, or the songs are simply about man’s mistreatment of woman (my own relationship to women). In my thirties, after some life experience, I do think women are much stronger than men and carry a much greater burden in life. I would like to see the planet shift to a more matriarchal society. Whilst I should not make such an absolute statement, I do think women are more grounded in the earth and the cosmos. I think things would be better if women were in charge. Please note I am still learning about human beings, and my knowledge is limited. The aforementioned statements may not be correct, but they are my opinion. And we stand by them.”

The new full-length album Thieves Like Us will be out April 2017 worldwide via Seayou Records/Rough Trade. The artwork depicts a re-enactment of Hans Conrad Schumann’s iconic jump from communist German Democratic Republic to freedom; by a woman of colour wearing the same pilot suit that singer Andy Grier’s father wore in Vietnam. We leave its interpretation to the listener.

“Immediate gratification” – Pitchfork

“Sharp and poignant drum beats remind one of early Daft Punk” –
Consequence Of Sound

+ Stand out tracks – Jennifer, Tears, Moon, Dani
+ Fans of – Metronomy, Hot Chip, New Order

+ Pre-Order The Album
+ Download Album MP3s
+ Private Stream Album (Soundcloud)
+ Download Artwork + Press Pics

Thieves Like Us – Tracklist:

1. dani
2. tears
3. moon
4. e-problems
5. child star
6. broken mirror
7. israel
8. shake the light
9. jennifer