"The Alchemist's Euphoria": Kasabian's new release

Middling reboot for Leicester’s indie-rock titans

The sacking of frontman Tom Meighan for domestic assault left Kasabian without their voice, but not their brains: that was always guitarist and principal writer Serge Pizzorno. 

On the back foot, his answer is to come out fighting, taking over vocal duties on a messy, confused yet defiant seventh album that doubles down on their extremities: pummelling lad-rock anthems infused with 90s dance tropes - see Scriptvre, the Prodigy-like Rocket Fuel and Alygatyr, where Pizzorno sounds indistinguishable from Meighan - that are mostly laced with their usual lyrical gibberish. 

There are enough references to Meighan’s departure, ranging from anger to sadness to shock, that suggest Pizzorno is still making sense of the ordeal, however. “Whatever don’t kill you makes you stronger” he sings on Chemicals, almost like he believes it.