''The Big Decider'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band

the Zutons The Zutons are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool, in 2002. The band currently consists of Dave McCabe (vocals, guitar), Abi Harding (saxophone), Jay Lewis (guitar), Neil Bradley (keyboards) and Tim Cunningham (bass). The band's ...

, released on 26 April 2024 through Icepop. It is the band's first album in 16 years, following '' You Can Do Anything'' (2008), their disbandment the following year, and reformation in 2018. The album was produced by

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

, and band member Sean Payne; further, it was promoted with a tour of the UK in early 2024. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Critical reception

''The Big Decider'' received a score of 80 out of 100 on review aggregator

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

based on four critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "generally favorable" reception. ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' felt that the album "sees the Zutons back to their happy clapping playful best", while ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'' called it "uplifting, rueful and expertly crafted". Emma Harrison of '' Clash'' described it as "a real statement of intent" as well as "an absolute suckerpunch of an album which reflects the love and chemistry the band and the collaborators have for each other". Ben Hogwood of ''

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'' wrote that the nine songs display "the band's leaner approach, but they show that McCabe's eye for a memorable song remains", but "their songs are not – yet – quite as memorable as those from the band's first iteration".

Track listing

Note * signifies an additional producer

Personnel

* Dave McCabe – vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars (all tracks); synthesizer (track 5), screwdriver guitars (6, 8),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(9) * Abi Harding – backing vocals (all tracks), saxophone (tracks 2–9) * Sean Payne – drums, percussion (all tracks); backing vocals (tracks 1–5, 7–9), additional recording (2, 3, 7–9), bass guitar (5, 9), additional keyboards (5), additional

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(6), acoustic guitar (8, 9) * Neil Bradley – keyboards (tracks 1–5, 7–9), piano (1, 5, 9), backing vocals (1),

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

(6) *

Jay Lewis Jay Gardner Lewis (1914 – June 4, 1969) was a British film director, producer and writer. Starting in the theatre, he joined British International Pictures in 1933. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Sydne ...

– bass guitar (tracks 1, 6, 8), backing vocals (1), lead guitar (2–8), claps (7) * Boyan Chowdhury – guitar, backing vocals (track 1) * Tim Cunningham – bass guitar (tracks 2–4, 7) *

– backing vocals (tracks 4, 7) * Ben Truman – strings (tracks 4, 7) * Russell Graham – additional keyboards (tracks 5, 6) *

– speech (track 5) Technical * Nick Watson – mastering *

Mike Crossey Mike Crossey (born 1979) is a Northern Irish record producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. He produced the debut single by Arctic Monkeys, collaborating with them over two albums. He is known for his ongoing relationship with The 1975, in a ...

– mixing (track 1) * Stephen Harris – mixing (tracks 2–9), recording (2–4, 7) * Leon Pearce – mixing (tracks 10–19) * Russell Graham – recording (tracks 1, 5, 6, 9) * Joe Rubel – recording (track 9) * Tom Roach – additional recording (tracks 5, 6) * John Barrett – additional engineering (tracks 5, 6) * Andy Maxwell – recording assistance (tracks 1, 5, 6, 9) * Jack Boston – recording assistance (tracks 2–4, 7) Visuals * Scott Jones Studio – art direction, design * Graham Blackburn – live photography

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Decider 2024 albums Albums produced by Ian Broudie Albums produced by Nile Rodgers The Zutons albums