At this point, The Darkness have already firmly established themselves as a legendary rock ‘n’ roll fever dream and we’ve all collectively agreed to let run wild. With Dreams on Toast, their eighth studio album, they double down on the ridiculous, the theatrical, and the unexpectedly heartfelt and somehow in typical Darkness fashion, it works.
From the first few seconds, it’s clear they haven’t lost their taste for drama or absurdity. But where past albums often leaned heavily on glam-rock bombast and falsetto-fueled bravado, Dreams on Toast feels like a musical choose-your-own-adventure. It’s got country twang, it’s got that punky punchiness, it’s even got that Queen-style operatics and Beatles-esque melody. One minute you’re in a sleazy dive bar listening to a rollicking guitar solo, the next you’re being serenaded with a string section and a spoken word cameo from Stephen Dorff. Because… why not?
Justin Hawkins is still the delightful chaos engine at the center of it all, crooning about heartbreak, the grim realities of aging, tech addiction, and, hilariously, digestive distress. But somehow, no matter how off-the-wall the subject matter gets, the band never loses sight of the hooks. Even the weirdest moments come wrapped in genuinely catchy melodies that worm their way into your brain and good luck getting rid of them.
There’s an undercurrent of self-awareness throughout the album.. They know they’re not topping the charts anymore (“We never stopped making hit albums… it’s just that no one buys them anymore” is an actual lyric), but that doesn’t mean they’re phoning it in. If anything, this sounds like a band more creatively unhinged and joyful than they’ve been in years.
If you’re the kind of person who wants their rock music with a wink, a strut, and the occasional whiplash-inducing genre pivot, this album is like a chaotic buffet you didn’t know you were hungry for. It’s The Darkness doing whatever the hell they want and sounding like they’re having a blast doing it.
DREAMS ON TOAST
NEW ALBUM OUT MARCH 28TH 2025
VIA COOKING VINYL
PRE-ORDER HERE
‘Dreams On Toast’ comes in with a nice 8 out of 10
Reviewer – Alan Robinson @alan_robinson_photography