Nothing But Thieves return to raw rock with Stray Dogs

Three singles have already marked the path from Dead Club City; the fifth album is due on 25 September and was recorded at Angelic Studios, where they made their debut.

Nothing But Thieves release their fifth studio album, *Stray Dogs*, on 25 September. The album follows 2023 release *Dead Club City*, the band’s first UK number one album.

Punchy new single *Evolution* is out now. The band have commented: “It’s a song that’s not too concerned about finality. I think imperfection and authenticity is becoming ever more valuable and it’s definitely something we’re drawn to.” “We’ve spent some time trying to work out what’s real and tangible about who we are and how we use our time. The people we travel the world with, the human moments on stage, the connection we make with those who come to our shows. That’s real.” “It’s a bit of a love letter to the people in our world in that way.” The album was recorded at Angelic Studios, where they made their debut over a decade ago.

From Southend to the top of the charts

Formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 2012, Nothing But Thieves signed to RCA Records in 2014 and released their debut album the following October. That first record set out the core of the band’s attack: Conor Mason’s high, cutting voice, twin guitars, and a hard rock drive that sat comfortably on modern radio without sanding off the edges. *Broken Machine* followed in September 2017, drawing wide acclaim and peaking at number two on the UK album charts — a near-miss that confirmed the scale of their audience.

An EP, *What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way?*, appeared in October 2018. *Moral Panic* arrived in October 2020, with *Moral Panic II* extending that chapter in July 2021. By the time *Dead Club City* landed in June 2023, the catalogue had moved from the raw urgency of the early work into broader, more electronic textures. That fourth studio album became their first UK number one and closed a first decade in which the band had climbed steadily from Southend stages to the top of the charts without a line-up change.

The line-up has remained Conor Mason, Joe Langridge-Brown, Dominic Craik, Philip Blake and James Price. *Stray Dogs* is therefore a full-circle moment in more than one sense: the fifth studio album, a return to the studio of the debut, and a conscious step away from the electronic palette of its predecessor.

What the new record signals

The choice of Angelic Studios is not nostalgia for its own sake. Recording where the debut was made underlines the band's claim to live energy and authenticity in these songs. After a run that took them from a 2015 debut through a near-miss with *Broken Machine* and a first number one with *Dead Club City*, they are presenting *Stray Dogs* as a recalibration rather than a reinvention — a bid to put the weight back on guitars, rooms and the feel of a band playing together.

That framing sits neatly with the single sequence already released. *Evolution* has been the public trail for the album since May. Listeners who followed the electronic turn of 2023 now have a clear marker of how far the sound has swung back.

UK shows are still to come. Exact dates are yet to be announced, but the tie between the album and the road is plain: the record is framed as something that should travel well under lights.

Due on 25 September, *Stray Dogs* is a bet that rawer rock still holds the stage — and that the audience that followed them from Southend to number one will meet them there.