Today, Sex Pistols bassist and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Glen Matlock releases his politically-charged new album Consequences Coming, described in a ★★★★ review by Mojo Magazine as a “loose, swaggering, old-school-rocking to the core, Consequences Coming hits the target hard”. As the record's passionate polemic explodes into the hearts and minds of the nation, we caught up with Glen to answer our questions about the album and his storied rock and roll career.
Backed up by a collection of legendary players, (in)famous cohorts, and rock royalty including the likes of Earl Slick, and Clem Burke, Glen Matlock has never sounded better than on Consequences Coming.
Commenting on the album, Matlock says: “It was written and recorded in Britain over the last 18 months or so with a posse of seasoned but on-point performers, all done during the debacle that is Brexit and the rise and fall of the turgid Trump episode in the US"
“These songs reflect my take on the whole sorry mess that has ensued. The tunes are pretty catchy too..." - Glen Matlock
TM: Your new album Consequences Coming is released this week so congratulations for that! The accompanying TV appearances and press quotes for the album, as well as the music we've heard so far, have an explicitly political edge. With that in mind, why was the title Consequences Coming chosen for the record and what does the concept mean to you?
Glen Matlock: Damn right! I have a bit of a platform and I’m going to use it.
I feel the UK and elsewhere in the Western world have been hoodwinked in the last decade by a particularly pernicious bunch of self-entitled politicians. But I feel there is a dim chink of light at the end of the tunnel and people are beginning to get hip to the way they have been hoodwinked and brutalised. Payback is a-coming...
TM: The first track we heard from the record was 'Head On A Stick', with its unapologetic expression of watching Western world events over the last few years feeling like being a "witness to a crime". Where do you see the role of music in activism in 2023? Do you think songs with a message can make a difference and do you feel more up-and-coming artists should be following your lead and making songs made to get people thinking about the state of the world?
GM: I think artists should do pretty much what they like but to not reflect what is going on around you is an abrogation of responsibility that I want no part of.
That said, a good tune and the right - for want of a better word - slogan, can go hand in glove to get a message across. Tough talk doesn’t have to sound turgid.
TM: The album itself features rock royalty including the likes of Earl Slick on guitar and Clem Burke on drums. With a network of musicians as vast as yours to tap into, why was the troop that recorded Consequences Coming the right line-up for this record?
GM: Well they are all great players to a man but also great friends and I have dug the way they have all rallied around and helped out.
I think it’s the other way around actually in that the album sounds right because of their collective input; I didn’t recruit them as such, they chipped in and the total is hopefully more than the sum of the various parts chipped!
TM: You have an incredibly storied career, from a teenager in the Sex Pistols, through Rich Kids, Iggy Pop and a whole lot in between, including your current stint in Blondie. What do you think that the younger you, freshly out of the Sex Pistols and wondering what he would do with the rest of his life, would make of Consequences Coming?
GM: I have indeed and yes, I am getting on a bit!
I would hope that the younger me would appreciate that the album is contemporary-aware and still manages to push a few boundaries within the parameters of his chosen genre.
TM: Consequences Coming is available on CD and vinyl on Cooking Vinyl. In the streaming culture of 2023 does having your albums released on tangible formats remain important and how do you listen to music yourself nowadays?
GM: Yes, I think does. You can’t have intangible digestive biscuits and they are pretty much the same shape as a record!
I use all formats when the situation demands but you can’t beat putting Kind of Blue by Miles (Davis), or my treasured Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated Live At The Marquee on the Ace of Clubs label on your Dansette while you are painting your toenails.
One of life’s great little pleasures...
Consequences Coming is available now on Vinyl, CD and Vinyl & CD Bundle. Order the album now for the chance to win a Signed Test Pressing!