We Are Love sees The Charlatans return for their first album in eight years in a reflective mood, contemplating their storied past whilst refusing to rinse and repeat their anthemic sound but pushing their musical vision wider and bolder.

“The whole idea of hauntology and psychogeography is represented by us going back to Rockfield, where so much history has happened for The Charlatans. That was important as a way of honouring every member who’s played in the band. So we’re honouring ourselves, our past, feeling that energy and reincarnating it, doing something fresh, brand new” explains Tim Burgess of the inspiration behind We Are Love, The Charlatans’ first album in eight years. Listening to the album his words ring true, the eleven songs have many touchpoints to the past, both musically and lyrically, but aren’t rooted in it, not trying desperately to replicate past glories, but moving forward, cognisant of the passing of time.

The album’s lead single and title track is a case in point. Kicking off with a flourish of their trademark organ sound, the lyrics embody the spirit of the band to continue through all the tragedy – “looking for the truth in all this darkness” – that’s befallen them over the year, including the death of two founder members Rob Collins and Jon Brookes, before remembering why they’re still doing this -“this is the place, we are the days, we are love.”
Opener Kingdom Of Love looks back with somberness at those moments but with a sense that the spirit of everyone is still driving them and has been continuously since they lost Collins weeks before a huge support slot with Oasis at Knebworth nearly thirty years ago – “it feels like you’re here, but you’re not…. this world couldn’t hold you, it just reached out and took you… picked ourselves up off the floor, dusted us down the best we could.”

Many A Day Of Heartache sees them experimenting with their sound without ditching its signature notes, something that’s a tricky balance to achieve but which they manage with aplomb. Burgess’s voice sits dead centre, warm, open and reassuring throughout whatever the subject matter. For The Girls shimmers reflectively and with an understated tone that runs through most of the record, a reassuring hug rather than an overwhelming expression of emotions. You Can’t Push The River is melodic and reflective in the same manner.

Second single Deeper And Deeper picks the mood and pace up, laced with that signature Hammond, the fuzzy guitars and bassline that will make it appeal to those looking for the iconic Charlatans sound, including a middle section that feels like it’s been improvised off the hoof, fresh and vibrant. Appetite follows the record’s more experimental sonic intentions without veering completely off piste. The album’s only mis-step is the short Salt Water which doesn’t quite seem to know what it’s trying to achieve and hence feels out of place with what’s around it.

Out On Our Own is the highlight of the album though, a tight claustrophobic track that has a sense of unity running through it – “we can talk about your dreams, I’ve spoke about mine” – before picking up pace, changing direction constantly and Burgess’s vocals feeling like a stream of consciousness. Glad You Grabbed Me is probably the closest to the classic The Charlatans sound and is reflective, referencing all their achievements and accolades, bereavements, disagreements, events in Cambridge, Detroit, Manhattan before declaring “love you madly”, the title possibly referencing Burgess joining the already formed band back in the late eighties.

We Are Love concludes with the epic Now Everything, clocking in at close to seven minutes, full of dreamy vocals thinking out loud questioning “we need to pause this movie” set to the most ambitious sonic experimentation on the album as it draws to a close instrumentally for the last two minutes.

We Are Love is a triumph. The Charlatans could have taken the nostalgia path, touring their classic albums, leaving new music to Tim Burgess’s own prolific solo career, but there feels like a sense of having to make this record, a need to look back at their own story and reflect to allow them to continue to move forwards.

The Charlatans are out on tour later in the year to support the album release calling at Leeds O2 Academy (December 6), Stoke-On-Trent Victoria Halls (7), Bath Forum (8), London Kentish Town Forum (10), Manchester Academy (11), Glasgow Barrowland (12), Norwich UEA (April 24, 2026), Brighton Dome (25), Bournemouth O2 Academy (26), Cardiff Tramshed (28), Nottingham Rock City (29), Birmingham O2 Academy (May 1), Sheffield Octagon (2), Newcastle City Hall (3), Aberdeen Music Hall (5) and Edinburgh Corn Exchange (6).

All words by David Brown, you can find his author profile here.