Slaves Show Off Heavier, Meaner And Angrier New Material At Small, Sweaty London Show

It’s only been 14 months and 10 days since Slaves released their debut album ‘Are You Satisfied?’, but they’ve already moved onto their next step. Two hours before they take to the stage at London’s 100 Club for a boisterous and sweaty last-minute show, they’re up the road at BBC Radio 1 to premiere their new single ‘Spit Out’ on Annie Mac’s programme.

“It’s official, we’re back,” says guitarist Laurie Vincent midway through the August 10 gig, and there’s no mistaking that. The Tunbridge Wells duo may have graduated to venues as big as Brixton, but, for one night only, they’re back in a sweatbox like those they cut they teeth in. They encourage crowdsurfers to try and stay aloft for entire songs, and rampage through choice cuts from their first album and further back, playing so furious and fast that their hour whizzes by in what seems like 10 minutes.

Of course, the most exciting thing about tonight for the lucky fans who managed to snap up tickets this morning is the prospect of finding out where Slaves are headed next. In recent interviews they’ve suggested album two is heavier and different from their first, and they back that up in the handful of new songs they litter throughout the set. ‘Spit It Out’, which comes early on in the set, has singer and drummer Isaac Holman repeating the song’s title in a raw-throated scream as Vincent’s chugging guitar thrashes beneath him. ‘Same Again’, a track railing against people who do the same thing “again and again, week in, week out, weekend in, weekend out”, features a doom-y breakdown that’s begging for the room to headbang to.

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If the four new songs played tonight are anything to go by, Slaves’ second album will be heavier, meaner and a hell of a lot angrier. That’s already showing through in new artwork: where ‘Are You Satisfied?’ was adorned by two cute dogs, the poster for tonight’s gig features two balaclava-covered heads. Of course they’re also pink and cartoonish, but Slaves wouldn’t be Slaves without a playful twist.

Lyrically, too, you can tell the tide is turning. In the past, the pair have stepped back from discussing politics much, but ‘Rich Man’ gives them perfect platform to sound off against the wealthy few. “Rich man/I’m not your bitch, man,” goes the sneering chorus while the verses depict a man who’s been “dying since the day he was born“. The track’s prefaced by Holman making a short speech about the “few families and people who control the money”, while other between-song comments focus on Brexit and campaigners Girls Against’s fight to stop sexual harassment at gigs.

‘Spit It Out’ may have only aired hours before the show and only a few shoddy live videos exist of the rest of the new songs on YouTube, but midway through each, fans are singing along and punching the air. As the audience bounds on stage for a chaotic closing rendition of ‘The Hunter’, it’s obvious that Slaves have the momentum to make a big splash with that second album.

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