Following a six year hiatus, Skint & Demoralised returned with ‘Boro Kitchen 4am‘ earlier in the spring. Documenting a chat about Brexit at a Teesside house party, it introduced a raw musical edge from producer David Gledhill, combined with mature and politically-minded lyrics from poet Matt Abbott. Fittingly, it was released on The Day Nothing Happened, ie 29 March.

Where ‘Boro Kitchen 4AM’ brought a raw post-punk energy with it, follow-up ‘#RefugeesWelcome‘ contains elements of jangly upbeat indie whilst still carrying a raucous insistence. The verses take a scathing swipe at the refugee crisis, from the media’s coverage to the UK government’s role via a shed-load of public attitude. The chorus however relies on rousing simplicity, insisting “We are humans, we are all immigrants”.

Lyricist and poet Matt Abbott volunteered at the Calais Jungle in 2016 and his acclaimed one-man show ‘Two Little Ducks‘ laid the foundation for the new album’s lyrical content. Or should that be lyrical discontent? When Skint & Demoralised first emerged on the scene in 2007, Matt Abbott was completing his A-Levels and David Gledhill was producing in Sheffield under the guise ‘MiNI dOG’. Northern Soul-inspired tracks about teenage relationships (see ‘Red Lipstick’) led to a MySpaced-out A&R feeding frenzy and within 9 months they’d signed to Universal Records – one of those classic meteoric rises that the music industry churns out every now and again.

Fast forward to 2019 and Abbott is 30 years old and rapidly establishing himself on the UK’s flourishing spoken word scene while Gledhill, known more recently for his nonchalantly successful SOULS releases, is also releasing a track a week from his East London studio on a new piano project called ’52 Weeks Makes A Year’. Skint & Demoralised have changed, and so has the world around them. Fittingly, their forthcoming fourth album ‘We Are Humans’ is completely unlike previous releases, and represents a sharp political reflection of the tumultuous times that engulf us. (Un)rest assured that ‘#RefugeesWelcome’ and ‘Boro Kitchen 4AM’ represent just the tip of this thoroughly irked creative iceberg.

The band performed to a packed room for their comeback gig at London’s The Social in April, and then again for their headline slot at Fierce Panda’s Great Escape showcase at Brighton in May. They’ll finally return to Yorkshire when they play this show here…

Praise for ‘Boro Kitchen 4am’

This is absolute CLASS. Pure honest broken Britain. More of this please.

Kingsley Chapman

Lyrical, raw and arguing with the insistence of its setting: politics and cheap lager at a party, when it’s time to go home but nobody’s got the time, not to think about that.

The State of The Arts

Lyrically cutting and insightful, it gets to the crux of the Brexit conundrum and its endless contradictions…After hearing ‘BK4AM’, the rule book on how to re-invent yourself as an anarchic and poetic force has been re-written.

Travellers Tunes

Do it wrong and this sort of thing will turn people away, and singer Matt Abbott knows that. Do it right and it can really draw them in – in fact, one or two members of the front row are welling up. An unexpectedly emotional ride of much needed sincerity.

Brighton Source