THE WILDHEARTS – Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts (2025) *HQ*

The creative Ginger Wildheart is arguably among the UK’s best and most prolific songwriters, and his band, THE WILDHEARTS, recently signed a worldwide deal with Snakefarm / Integral for the release of their brand new album “Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts“.
In terms of energy and intent, music and visuals, this new 10-tracker has been forged in the white heat of the past, tapping into an era of the group when their genre-bustin’ music was first winning (wild) hearts and minds. Sometimes celebrating the past is the best way to fire up the future…

We’re off to a great start with “Eventually”. At over six minutes it manages to cram in so many different tones and feelings. Short, sharp rhythms; screamed vocals which I wasn’t too keen on when they first kicked in, but as the track progressed they felt better placed; a great rousing chorus; wonderful twinkly keys; some trippy little segues.
“Scared of Glass” does little to change this, a great rock and roll intro that leads into a nice, riotous number. Ginger has one of the most distinctive voices on the rock scene and it’s used to great effect on here, along with some cool “woah-woah” sounds from the rest of the Wildhearts crew. This is a bouncy number that’s destined to be in the live set.

A bit discordant at first, “Troubador Moon” settles down quite quickly and turns into another singalong rocker. “Fire In The Cheap Seats” is the first track I’m not too keen on, at least at first listen. It’s a bit disjointed, especially near the beginning, though this may be deliberate given the refrain “There’s a fire in my brain”. If it’s meant to get across the chaos of a broken mind, then… yeah. I get it.

I’m pretty sure “Kunce” is just a sneaky way to get a rude word onto the album without Spotify noticing. This is an obvious protest song railing against various people who piss Ginger off. A definite punky angry song at three minutes. “Maintain Radio Silence” begins harsh, but again it moves into a more melodic style now and again. This is a driving, pounding song.
“Blue Moon Over Brinkburn” sounds rather autobiographical, it’s uplifting, positive, fast-paced and fairly rattles off the inside of your head. A couple of little stabs in among the lyrics add to it, and the chorus is very singalong. I’m not too keen on the odd solo in the middle, but overall this is a strong cut.

Right from the off, “Hurt People Hurt People” stands out as different from every other song. It’s gentle, it has a message, it’s heartfelt. You know what’s been missing so far? Saxophone. Thankfully “I’ll Be Your Monster” rectifies with a track that is a stomping little number.
Wrapping things up is the lengthy “Failure Is The Mother Of Success”, and it’s a good one to end on. A definite whole-band effort, it’s similar to the opening number in that it seems to hark back as much as forward.

“Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts” rocks, and rocks in a different way than your regular rock album. While the intensity of the music will draw you in, it’s the lyrics that will keep you hooked. Soul bearing, but with a sense of hope underpinning even the darkest moments, it’s an album that gives you a hug even as it pummels you and the overwhelming emotion that permeates every second is joy.
Highly Recommended

01 – Eventually
02 – Scared Of Glass
03 – Troubadour Moon
04 – Fire In The Cheap Seats
05 – Kunce
06 – Maintain Radio Silence
07 – Blue Moon Over Brinkburn
08 – Hurt People Hurt People
09 – I’ll Be Your Monster
10 – Failure Is The Mother Of Success

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