''Angry Cyclist'' is the eleventh studio album by Scottish

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk music, folk and rock music, rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the American fo ...

duo

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

. The album was released on 10 August 2018 on the label

Cooking Vinyl Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairma ...

. The album spawned the titular single "Angry Cyclist", accompanied by a music video. Charting at No. 2 in Scotland, as well as at No. 17 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and No. 3 on the Indie Charts, the release of ''Angry Cyclist'' was followed by a promotional tour of the United Kingdom, Canada, Iceland, Asia and Australia. Receiving a generally favourable reception, ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'' praising the record an example of the band's best work, ''Angry Cyclist'' included politically angled songs reflecting

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

, and absorbed a variegation of influences including

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jangle pop Jangle pop is a subgenre of pop rock or college rock that emphasizes jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop melodies. The term originated from Bob Dylan's song " Mr. Tambourine Man", whose 1965 rendition by the Byrds became considered one of the g ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

Production

The album was produced by

Dave Eringa David James Eringa (born 30 July 1971 in Brentwood, Essex) is an English record producer, sound and mix engineer. Biography He has a career long association with the Manic Street Preachers, he was on tea making duties on their first single "M ...

who produced The Proclaimers' previous album ''

Let's Hear It for the Dogs Let's Hear It for the Dogs is the tenth studio album from Scottish folk rock duo The Proclaimers, released in 2015 on the label Cooking Vinyl. Recording The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and produced by Dave Eringa. As sta ...

'', and was likewise recorded in Wales at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

Release

''Angry Cyclist'' was released on 10 August 2018. Released through

, the album saw

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

-wide release on CD, as well as

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

and cassette releases in the UK.

Style and content

Lyrical themes

The lyrics of ''Angry Cyclist'' included political themes. The title-track "Angry Cyclist" reflected dismay at a societal shift to the

political right Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, aut ...

following

and the election of

, band member Craig Reid metaphorically likening "sweating, angry cyclists “hemmed in” by city traffic with the polarisation of political discourse", the song was hailed "a metaphor for our times". "Classy" was a wry insight into the "ludicrous strata" of the

British class system The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, which continues to affect British society today. British society, like its European neighbours and most societies in world history, ...

. The

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. ...

"Streets of Edinburgh" looked backwards and forwards at the city where the band spend their formative years.

Musical style

''AllMusic'' opined that The Proclaimers "present a mix of style influences" on ''Angry Cyclist'', ordaining "The Battle of the Booze" as " countrified" and entailing "Information"'s R&B infusions. "Sometimes It's the Fools" rang out with what ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...

'' described as a "pithy and pacey

jangle Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly 12-strings) played in a droning chordal style (by strumming or arpeggiating). The sound is mainly associated with pop musi ...

", remindful of R.E.M., declaring "You Make Me Happy" to be a "direct and driving Celtic soul stormer" and "A Way with Words" a "twanging

rock’n’roller".

Reception

Critical reception

According to ''

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

'', ''Angry Cyclist'' received a score of 77/100 based in 5 reviews, suggesting "generally positive reviews". Marcy Donelson of ''

'' described the record as "one of he band'sbest" and "the type of album that would be fun see performed live in full". In an eight-out-of-ten review, Bryan Willitson of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

-based publication ''The Spill Magazine'' opined that the album had "many moments to enjoy" and that it "grows on the listener with each successive spin". '' The Skinny'', in a four out-of five-star review by Alan O'Hare, while acknowledging the album to offer "a little less gravitas than usual", stated that " the taut Telecasters that dominate The Proclaimers' eleventh studio album provide a tension that seems to sit well within ..these prescient compositions", and further alluded to the track "Classy" as "lyrical genius". ''

'' complimented ''Angry Cyclist'' as one of the band's "most cutting collections" and that "every track brims with confidence".

Accolades

Angry Cyclist ranked at No. 64 on ''100 Best Albums of 2018'' by UK music retailer

Fopp Fopp may refer to: * "Fopp" (song), a 1975 song by the Ohio Players from ''Honey'' * ''Fopp'' (EP), a 1988 EP by Soundgarden, featuring the song of the same name * '' Screaming Life/Fopp'', a 1990 compilation album by the American rock band Sound ...

Touring

The Proclaimers embarked on a worldwide

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

following the release of ''Angry Cyclist''. The 2018 leg of the ''Angry Cyclist'' tour saw the band perform 43 shows and 5

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holida ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, as well as 13 concerts in

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supported by the English

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has it ...

artist Siobhan Wilson. The 2019 portion included performances that April in Reykjavik,

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, as well as a 10-date tour of Australia that May. The tour concluded with a performance on 14 September 2019 at

The Hydro The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, and is the largest entertainment venue in Scotland. The arena was initially named The Hydro after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro El ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, Scotland. The ''Angry Cyclist'' tour saw the duo perform to over 400,000 people across 111 performances.

Track listing

Personnel

; The ProclaimersThe liner notes entail the musical and technical personnel of Angry Cyclist. * Craig Reid - vocals * Charlie Reid - acoustic guitar, vocals ; Additional performers * Stevie Christie - keyboards * Garry John Kane - bass guitar * Zac Ware - electric guitar, classic guitar, pedal steel, mandolin * Clive Jenner - drums, percussion * Sean Genockey - guitar * Andrew Walters - string arrangements, violin * Tanwen Evans - violin * Carly Stone - cello * Nathan Stone - cello * John McCusker - fiddle ; Technical *

- production, programming * Joe Jones - engineering * Jack Boston - engineering * Ed Woods - mastering * Lewis MacDonald - front cover design * Luke Insect - sleeve design * Murdro MacLeod - liner notes photography

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Cooking Vinyl albums The Proclaimers albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios