Go behind the scenes of Rolling Stone UK’s cover shoot with IDLES

IDLES frontman Joe Talbot has opened up on the meaning behind the band’s fifth album TANGK and working with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich in a new behind-the-scenes video from the band’s Rolling Stone UK cover shoot.

The Bristol rockers, who are set to release their next record on February 16, opened up in a new interview on set of their London cover shoot in December 2023.

“TANGK, our new album, is a very uncomplicated entity. It’s an album of love songs and that is it,” explained Talbot.

“There’s no call to arms other than myself to feel connected to the world and other people again. We took the process in a new direction in order to challenge ourselves and progress musically and I wanted to keep the thematics completely uncomplicated in these uncomplicated times and come at the world with love and empathy alone.”

Of working with Nigel Godrich, Talbot said: “Working with him [Godrich] was a fucking gift and it took me a long time to find a place within our working relationship. [Mark] Bowen, the other main writer in this album, is a lot more dynamic and smart and emotionally stable than I am. So I just had a lot of catching up to do which is a beautiful thing. It was a strange and uncomfortable process but Nigel, like all good producers, enables you and shows you the tools in which to push yourself and work towards a wider vocabulary, so to speak. He did that brilliantly and I’m very grateful.”

The whole piece will feature in issue 15 of Rolling Stone UK. You can buy it here.