As they release their third album, exploring new musical territories, the Bristol class warriors discuss sincerity, sharp dressing – and why they’re rising to the haters
Nice guys don’t always finish last. Not in the case of Idles, anyway. On Glastonbury’s Park Stage last year, the Bristol five-piece looked out at the moshing masses, stretching as far as the eye could see, past the multicoloured lookout and down the hill. It was the culmination of another sold-out tour; a top five, Mercury prize-shortlisted album; years of hard work and a whole lot of heartache. Frontman Joe Talbot, then aged 35, began to cry; his wife, Beth, with their newborn in a sling, ran out to comfort him, before they launched back into their crushing set. And in that moment, broadcast nationwide, their status as the next Big British Rock Band was certified.
“Vulnerability is the armour,” say the band, and it is for them a kind of mission statement, as are their politics of inclusivity. Their breakthrough album, 2017’s Brutalism, was written as Talbot was caring for his mum, who had a long-term illness and died during the recording; its songs cleaved into topics like toxic masculinity, “impotent male rage”, mental health and white privilege with the urgency of post-punk and the blistering subtlety of a tank in a rose garden. While Brutalism snarled at Brexit and the Tories, its follow-up, Joy as an Act of Resistance, preached celebrating your flaws and love as power, . One song, June, is dedicated to the Talbots’ first child, who tragically died stillborn.
