---

cathartic duo take stock with crooning alt-rock fifth.

The last time we saw Frank Carter and co was on 2021’s album Sticky. A firecracker snapshot of an enraged mindset at the precipice of a pandemic, it firmly set them on the explosive UK punk scene, trail-blazed by their explosive stake-in-the-ground debut Rotten Blossom. In contrast, fifth Dark Rainbow‘s foundations lay in taking stock and brooding at the night sky.

The very single leading the album gallantly is Man of the Hour, a real who am I moment for rockstar and frontman Frank Carter, as he questions the very morality of what it means to be a ‘rockstar’ in 2024 and what type of character this brings out of us. The best or the worst? A soul-searching expedition that sees Frank don a suit and tie in a flavourful delivery of new poetic direction.

Of course, it’s not an irate tantrum in the mirror like we saw in Bang Bang or a fuelled rant on run-down local communities like it is in My Town. No, it’s far more evocative in sound and grander in colour. If anything, it’s an album at their most authentic. There’s some classic belters on here, sure, but a lot of it is replaced with this southern gothic balladry of frequent piano and synth strikes and crooning alt-rock. There’s more for your ears to peruse over, too, as an album chants and warbles at you from both sides of the spectrum.

Honey is a fast blast-to-the-past; a guttural chord progression that even the most prolific in rock would be drooling over. Can I Take You Home is a polished home video of studio time with Alex Turner, while American Spirit is a first-rate effort in just a simply catchy rock number. Happier Days is very much a delectable pallet-cleanser of what makes this delivered rainbow such a dark one. Brambles is a brooding portrayal of menace as we entangle ourselves further in the thorns of love; led by a foreboding bass stagger and Carter’s roaring vocals before we’re swept into a final epilogue of soaring strings.

We’re then over-indulged with highly evocative piano ballads of both Queen of Hearts and Sun Bright Golden Happening that really reflect of where they were and where they are now; a real unearthing of songs impressively strung together. From the start, the ballads always came easy to us,” Richardson remembers. “But at no point did we question whether we should make more of them. Now we are.” The Frank fans of yesteryear may be troubled by all the lack of hard-hitting punk rock from the frontman formerly of Gallows, but Dark Rainbow reflects just how much the band have evolved over the 8 years they’re endured. They’re on a greater discovery about themselves – and I think that’s far more exciting than throwing out another Rotten Blossom.

Fear not however, as the powerful Self Love is simmering of old Carter; matched with Richardson’s gnawing guitar and sprawling synth wizardry as they embark on an over-zealous call-and-response with one another. The album ends with Dark Rainbow; a self-titled work that can safely stand on its own as a solo – dry heaving snare; heart-wrenching vocals; poignant pick-ups.

A truly authentic album drenched in spirit, Dark Rainbow, paints a vivid picture on where the pairs’ heads are at right now. After all, our little rebellious punks have all grown up.

---

“I’m just witnessing the world change so quickly and I’m still trying to come to terms with who I am and what the authentic version of me is. By giving people what I thought they wanted I think I got further and further away from who I actually am.” – Frank Carter