Fifteen years after the band’s debut and four years after the band’s last release, The Wombats are back with their most mature and fully formed project to date, a compliment I issue with a warning.
Maturing musically is a double-edged sword, capable of simultaneously forcing musicians to deal with more complex topics while dissolving the frivolity of youthful musical exuberance. It is a fine line to balance, but for much of Fix Yourself, Not the World, The Wombats strikes that balance.
In 2018, The Band released Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. As one of The Wombats’ best received records, it ensured a progression from late noughties indie rockers to arena fillers and festival favourites, an accomplishment seldom achieved. Such success had potential to leave the band’s latest record Fix Yourself, Not the World becoming somewhat of a victory lap, and there are occasions when it feels that way. But more prominently heard on The Wombat’s fifth studio release are a band filled with introspection, catharsis, and hope. Songs like ‘Worry’ and ‘Everything I Love is Going to Die’ combine these themes with fear, the latter sounding like a lyrical tribute to Pink Floyd’s ‘Time’, the only difference being the inclusion of instrumental pep that trickles through much of The Wombats’ discography.
But Fix Yourself, Not the World is not a fearful record. ‘This Car Drives All by Itself’ predicts a technological revolution while acting as a metaphor for progress, a theme the band fuel with the album’s central theme of introspection. On ‘Method to the Madness’ there is reference to how a ‘professor learns from all their rooky moves’. The song is not necessarily regretful, but it is tinged with sadness. The track delicately progresses via an infectious bassline before somewhat uncomfortably and aggressively building to a heavier finish. This is perhaps where maturity does not suit the band, with harsher cuts like ‘Ready for The High’ appearing not heavy enough to be fist-pumping, nor gentle enough to evoke fully the emotions within the song. However, when the band tone the instrumental force down, songs like ‘People Don’t Change People, Time Does’ continue to therapeutically and gently carry the listener through. The lyrics rarely appear aphoristic and subsequently tie the album together in such a way that the record runs cohesively.
It is this cohesion that makes ‘Don’t Poke the Bear’ such an odd addition to the track list. The song functions as a standalone listen but appears cluttered within the record’s wider context. However, the album returns to form with the final two tracks, including the brief closer and title track. Appearing more like an interlude than a traditional finale, it is this album at its most serene; while simultaneously sounding progressive, as if leading to another set of tracks. And indeed, another Wombats album of this style would be welcome. Some of the concepts perhaps need ironing out and a return to at least a few of the band’s more pop-centric traits would counteract the deeper moments; but Fix Yourself, Not the World is a nonetheless catchy and coherent pop-rock album from one of indie’s more consistently appealing artists.