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May 30, 2025 Web Exclusive By Andy Von Pip

Garbage have always thrived in the wreckage, blending pop hooks with futuristic industrial grime and wrapping huge choruses in barbed wire. But on their eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, something unexpected rises from the rubble: a flicker of cautious hope, a bruised kind of optimism that lies just beneath the surface.

Written during frontwoman Shirley Manson’s recovery from hip surgery, the record is steeped in reflection and resilience, anchored by a refusal to succumb to despair. Yet it never softens into sentimentality. This is a record that leans into connection rather than combat.

This time around, with Manson unable to work in the studio, physical separation shaped how the band made music. Manson recorded vocals remotely while Butch Vig, Duke Erikson, and Steve Marker sent sonic sketches via email. The result is a record that feels fractured yet fluid, riding the tension between alienation and communion. Tracks shift between shimmering glacial electronica, dystopian-pop noir drama, and widescreen futuristic dreamscapes, all grounded by Manson’s singular voice, part prophet, part punk, part poet.

“Chinese Fire Horse” sees Manson spitting venom at misogyny and ageism. “Have We Met (The Void)” oozes Lynchian unease, unraveling in a haze of existential dread as the creeping awareness of betrayal sinks in. But it’s not all shadows. “Sisyphus” aches with beautiful futility, while the soaring “Love to Give” delivers one of Manson’s most passionate and evocative vocal performances to date.

The ironically titled “There’s No Future in Optimism” turns defiance into a manifesto. Less doom, more dare. Manson doesn’t bow to cynicism; she kicks it down the stairs in steel-toe Doc Martens. Its underlying message is that you stand for the world or you stand against it, there’s no middle ground. Elsewhere, “Hold” is classic Garbage, with Manson exploring connection and vulnerability. The album’s finale, “The Day That I Met God,” is a remarkable, tramadol-fueled vision, spiritual, cinematic, and deeply moving, as Manson finds divinity in the faces of everyone she’s ever loved. And yes, she’s absolutely right: it features one of the best choruses she’s ever written.

Where 2021’s No Gods No Masters raged against a collapsing world, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light sifts through the aftermath in search of understanding. It’s a mature, profoundly human album, weathered but unbroken, scarred yet still yearning.

Garbage haven’t mellowed but they have evolved. And in doing so, they’ve delivered one of the most emotionally powerful records of their career. In a time of chaos, perhaps the most subversive act is to believe in people. (www.garbage.com)

Author rating: 8/10