Read the headlines and it's hard not to conclude that the world has gone mad. Mad enough, in fact, to give North London's finest twelve-legged quorum of Nutty Boys a run for their money. According to keyboard-wrangler Mike 'Barso' Barson, the title track to Madness's lucky thirteenth full-length C'Est La Vie is "about these crazy times we're living in, and how I just want to stay on my boat and not be a part of all this madness. But of course, I'm a member of a group called Madness. Perhaps we should have called ourselves 'Sanity'..."
If this latest opus is any indication, when the going gets mad, the Mad only get sharper, wilder and more succinct. C'Est La Vie combines the widescreen ambition of masterpieces like The Liberty Of Norton Folgate and The Rise & Fall and the all-killer-no-filler tune factory instincts of classics like Absolutely, 7 and Can't Touch Us Now. It's a 14-song suite packed with lunatic hooks and neon choruses, eerie space-ska and sophisticated pop genius - a giddy gambol across a bouncy castle soundscape that finds time for moments of righteous anger, powerful empathy and the kind of plain-spoken wisdom that's always operated beneath the group's nutty veneer. Vintage Madness, in other words.
After twelve albums helmed by renowned producers (including Stephen Street, Dennis Bovell, Owen Morris, Liam Watson and, of course, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the duo who helped shape their career-defining hits), C'Est La Vie is the first Madness opus to be produced by the Nutty Boys themselves, with Matt Glasbey (Ed Sheeran, Rag & Bone Man, alt-J) co-producing. The story begins in Cricklewood where, in 2019, the group took residence in a stark industrial space to write and rehearse new material, soundproofing the gaff with Glasbey and setting it up as a recording studio. "We needed a place we could call home, where all our equipment was," says guitarist Chris 'Chrissy-Boy' Foreman. "We're scattered across the country now, but this was a place where we could all meet up and get new songs together."
show less
If this latest opus is any indication, when the going gets mad, the Mad only get sharper, wilder and more succinct. C'Est La Vie combines the widescreen ambition of masterpieces like The Liberty Of Norton Folgate and The Rise & Fall and the all-killer-no-filler tune factory instincts of classics like Absolutely, 7 and Can't Touch Us Now. It's a 14-song suite packed with lunatic hooks and neon choruses, eerie space-ska and sophisticated pop genius - a giddy gambol across a bouncy castle soundscape that finds time for moments of righteous anger, powerful empathy and the kind of plain-spoken wisdom that's always operated beneath the group's nutty veneer. Vintage Madness, in other words.
After twelve albums helmed by renowned producers (including Stephen Street, Dennis Bovell, Owen Morris, Liam Watson and, of course, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the duo who helped shape their career-defining hits), C'Est La Vie is the first Madness opus to be produced by the Nutty Boys themselves, with Matt Glasbey (Ed Sheeran, Rag & Bone Man, alt-J) co-producing. The story begins in Cricklewood where, in 2019, the group took residence in a stark industrial space to write and rehearse new material, soundproofing the gaff with Glasbey and setting it up as a recording studio. "We needed a place we could call home, where all our equipment was," says guitarist Chris 'Chrissy-Boy' Foreman. "We're scattered across the country now, but this was a place where we could all meet up and get new songs together."
Read the headlines and it's hard not to conclude that the world has gone mad. Mad enough, in fact, to give North London's finest twelve-legged quorum of Nutty Boys a run for their money. According to keyboard-wrangler Mike 'Barso' Barson, the title track to Madness's lucky thirteenth full-length C'Est La Vie is "about these crazy times we're living in, and how I just want to stay on my boat and not be a part of all this madness. But of course, I'm a member of a group called Madness. Perhaps we should have called ourselves 'Sanity'..."
If this latest opus is any indication, when the going gets mad, the Mad only get sharper, wilder and more succinct. C'Est La Vie combines the widescreen ambition of masterpieces like The Liberty Of Norton Folgate and The Rise & Fall and the all-killer-no-filler tune factory instincts of classics like Absolutely, 7 and Can't Touch Us Now. It's a 14-song suite packed with lunatic hooks and neon choruses, eerie space-ska and sophisticated pop genius - a giddy gambol across a bouncy castle soundscape that finds time for moments of righteous anger, powerful empathy and the kind of plain-spoken wisdom that's always operated beneath the group's nutty veneer. Vintage Madness, in other words.
After twelve albums helmed by renowned producers (including Stephen Street, Dennis Bovell, Owen Morris, Liam Watson and, of course, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the duo who helped shape their career-defining hits), C'Est La Vie is the first Madness opus to be produced by the Nutty Boys themselves, with Matt Glasbey (Ed Sheeran, Rag & Bone Man, alt-J) co-producing. The story begins in Cricklewood where, in 2019, the group took residence in a stark industrial space to write and rehearse new material, soundproofing the gaff with Glasbey and setting it up as a recording studio. "We needed a place we could call home, where all our equipment was," says guitarist Chris 'Chrissy-Boy' Foreman. "We're scattered across the country now, but this was a place where we could all meet up and get new songs together."
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If this latest opus is any indication, when the going gets mad, the Mad only get sharper, wilder and more succinct. C'Est La Vie combines the widescreen ambition of masterpieces like The Liberty Of Norton Folgate and The Rise & Fall and the all-killer-no-filler tune factory instincts of classics like Absolutely, 7 and Can't Touch Us Now. It's a 14-song suite packed with lunatic hooks and neon choruses, eerie space-ska and sophisticated pop genius - a giddy gambol across a bouncy castle soundscape that finds time for moments of righteous anger, powerful empathy and the kind of plain-spoken wisdom that's always operated beneath the group's nutty veneer. Vintage Madness, in other words.
After twelve albums helmed by renowned producers (including Stephen Street, Dennis Bovell, Owen Morris, Liam Watson and, of course, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the duo who helped shape their career-defining hits), C'Est La Vie is the first Madness opus to be produced by the Nutty Boys themselves, with Matt Glasbey (Ed Sheeran, Rag & Bone Man, alt-J) co-producing. The story begins in Cricklewood where, in 2019, the group took residence in a stark industrial space to write and rehearse new material, soundproofing the gaff with Glasbey and setting it up as a recording studio. "We needed a place we could call home, where all our equipment was," says guitarist Chris 'Chrissy-Boy' Foreman. "We're scattered across the country now, but this was a place where we could all meet up and get new songs together."
show less
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Fox Theater - Oakland
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