Unbelievable Truth

In March, Unbelievable Truth released ‘Citizens Band EP’, the title track of which - a hypnotic, piano-led plea for community and solidarity among friends - appears on the album. 

Before splitting in 2000, Unbelievable Truth released two critically acclaimed albums, developing a passionate fan base both at home and abroad, particularly in Japan. In 2023, Yorke, bassist Jason Moulster and drummer Nigel Powell reunited for some gigs to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1998 debut album ‘Almost Here’ (Virgin Records), and following these shows the band began writing music together again.

“There’s just something about when the three of us make music at the same time,” explains Powell. “It’s greater than the sum of its parts in ways that I can’t describe.”

That ineffable but very tangible chemistry carries through to the nine songs that make up ‘Rich Inner Life’. It kicks in the moment the urgent paranoia of “You Got It” starts the record and continues until the incredible crescendo of finale “A Clear Line” dissolves into silence. In the between, you can’t just hear how much it means for the band to be making music with each other again, you can actually feel it. 

Time passing has led to a subtle yet significant sonic shift for the band, and a palpable sense of musical freedom and exuberance. ‘Rich Inner Life’ is the sound of a band who have both picked up from where they left off some two decades or so ago, but who have also injected all that extra experience, insight and pain into their music. 

“There was a real joy to doing this,” says Powell, “because we were doing it all ourselves. There was no pressure, we just decided to start making the album, and we knew that it would be finished when it was finished.”

“We wanted to enjoy the experience of making a record,” adds Moulster, “and really explore what we wanted to do with it.”  

In some ways, in fact, the band say that it felt almost like making a first album again. Well, almost. "The only thing,” says Yorke, “that would have made it feel more like the first album experience would have been if we’d still been living together in a single house. But our attitude was almost the same: Let’s just do this because it’s fun to do it and see what happens, rather than make an album because the industry says we’ve got to make an album.”