When you cross soulful vocals with a touch of Rage Against The Machine, and a stoic attitude, the result is a beautiful monster, which is exactly what Nothing But thieves have created in their latest release “Futureproof”.

From the lead into the first verse, you can feel a dark energy with the way the Black Sabbath-like bass line is phrased against the backdrop of industrial synth sounds.

It sets the scene for what feels like the soundtrack to a dystopian style movie, in fact, I would not be surprised to see this song used for a blockbuster movie, as it lends itself so well to imagery.

The bassline and drumbeats together are heavily influenced by Rage Against The Machine, which is something Conor & Joe freely admitted in a recent interview with Radio X’s George Godfrey.

Blending Rock with hip hop type beats is no easy task, and here, Nothing But Thieves do an amazing job. The overall sound they’ve managed to produce is something unique, even if it does borrow influence from other genres and great artists.

Vocally, Conor Mason delivers in a big way. Conor shows off his versatility with a multitude of vocal styles, ranging from a restrained and layback feel in the verses and bridge, to an eruption of feeling in the chorus when he belts out “I wanna be futureproof”.

Melodically, the verses are so strong, sticky and memorable, they could easily double as a chorus. Too often with modern music, we see songwriters and artists stick to a template of what works, like a decent verse, and a big chorus. Nothing But thieves seem to have thrown away the rule book here and should be lauded for their efforts.

The lyrics create great imagery, and even though the lyrics go hand in hand with the overall sound, you could easily get a feel for the vibe of the story, simply by reading through the lyrics. 

In Futureproof, Nothing But Thieves have managed to explore a certain darkness, a feeling of alienation, disconnection and angst. 

The ability of young artists to take on such heavy themes and crank out a great tune in the process is proof the music industry as a whole is FUTUREPROOF.

Author: Rob Costa

Rob Costa is a freelance writer & Ghost songwriter from Melbourne, Australia. Rob helps us out with music reviews.