Three years on from their best album to date, ‘Exiled’, Stevenage’s Bad Breeding have announced their return with ‘Human Capital’, the blistering title track from their forthcoming fourth full-length album. The song is mostly slower and more contemplative than much of Bad Breeding’s previous material. While frontman Chris Dodd intones the vituperative lyrics as angrily as ever, there’s a newfound chiming quality to Angus Gannagé’s guitars. Although this may sound like a counter-intuitive addition to the anarcho-punk quartet’s sound for listeners familiar with the cacophony of ‘Exiled’, it works surprisingly well, adding a melodic counterpoint to Dodd’s abrasive vocals.
At around the two-and-a-half-minute mark, the band kick into the breakneck pace their fans know and love. The song is accompanied by a memorable video directed by Jim Larson. Drone footage depicts a barren landscape, with trees having been uprooted and desolate stumps left in their place, echoing the album’s theme of societal safety nets having been stripped back to the bare minimum. This is contrasted with footage of sheep and pigs being slaughtered, seemingly a visual metaphor for contemporary society’s treatment of the poor. The ‘Human Capital’ album is released via One Little Independent on July 8th. Pre-order it here.
