21. April 2025
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Media Review

The Darkness – Dreams On Toast

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

The Darkness - Dreams On Toast

The Darkness - Dreams On Toast
4.3

Rating

 4.3/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • (Very) wide range of songs
  • Nicely written tracks
  • Entertaining listen

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Just five unreleased songs

Especially in the United Kingdom, The Darkness have a high status in the domestic rock’n’roll scene. Thus, their eighth studio album overall is in a certain focus there. I have a look over the Channel and have a deeper listen to this 28th March 2025 publication.

 

The Darkness – About The Artists

The Darkness are a hard rock band from Lowestoft near Norwich in England. They have been founded in 2000. Between 2006 and 2011, the band was on a hiatus. The more, it might feel surprsing that three band members are founding members of the band. They are namely Justin Hawking (vocals, guitar), his younger brother Dan Hawkins (guitar) and Frankie Poulain (bass). Poulain, however, left the band a year before the hiatus, but came back in 2011. Rufus Tiger Taylor is the current drummer of The Darkness (since 2015).

The band started very successful. Their 2023 debut album is a four time platinum album and chart-topper in the United Kingdom, but was also Top 10 in Ireland, Japan, and Sweden. The popularity stayed rather constant in their home country and Australia, but more and more faded in other markets. Their most recent album was the 2021 Motorheart. The seventh studio album of the band made it to the 16th spot in the U,K., but missed the Top 100 in most other markets.

 

The Darkness – Dreams On Toast – Track by Track

The ten track album lasts 33 minutes.

1. Rock and Roll Party Cowboy

How is The Darkness alike in 2025? According to the opening song, it has the potential for big party, how the band is stating in the lyrics. The song reminds my of ZZ Top songs, but on top of the thumbing bass and stomping beat, there is a definite party flavor in this one. Feels promising – I am curious for more.

2. I Hate Myself

After this party opener, the title of the second song, I Hate Myself, does not feel that the party goes on. The song comes with a very different style. Instead of a laid back groove with Americana flavor, this one is build on speed and uses brass sounds in the background. I cannot deny it is catching – and its fast rhythm is definitely also suitable for a rock party. Maybe just for another part of the evening, compared to the first song.

3. Hot On My Tail

Just four days before the album release, The Darkness shared this track, Hot On My Tail. The first two songs had quite a contrast – but this one is an absolute surprise. The Darkness take out the country vibes, strum their guitars… and somehow, it works as well.

4. Mortal Dread

Just when you finished polishing your boots while listening to Hot On My Tail, there is Mortal Dread. The album feels like a surprise egg of music so far. This time, the Brits go for stadium rock with strong riffs. Maybe not as hard and smashing like the big hard rock bands, but therefor, there is still a bit of a relaxed, groovy touch.

5. Don’t Need Sunshine

Don’t Need Sunshne strikes with the beautiful, emotional vocal performance by Justin Hawkins. The song is coming with the harmonic feeling, but it also does not manage to strike as much as the songs before did. A rather average one.

6. The Longest Kiss

The Darkness is sometimes compared to Queen. There are Mercury-esque vibes in songs like The Longest Kiss and the versatility of Dreams on Toast. On the other hand, the song also illustrates some of the downsides of the album as well. The track is just 2:51 minutes long. It is indeed the shortest one on the record, but quite many range around three minutes. Songs like the rhythmic and hymnic The Longest Kiss could need a bit more to define a stronger profile. Apart from that, it is one out of five tracks, which have been released as singles already. A good song… But somehow also close, but no cigar.

7. The Battle For Gadget Land

The seventh song presents hammering riffs, which here and there break down completely for a short, quiet episode. Nonetheless, it is overall one of the hardest tracks of Dreams on Toast. In the bridge, the song has a short narrative part. Overall, I smile listening to the lyrics and bang my head to the energetic guitar.

8. Cold Hearted Woman

Oh, the country music episode of The Darkness in 2025 was not a one-time event. Cold Hearted Women goes back to the country sway. The Darkness even grab the fiddle for this one. However, the song also feels extremely soupy, majorly due to the main and backing vocal arrangement. I liked Hot On My Tail more.

9. Walking Through Fire

The last song on Dreams on Toast, which has already been released as a single, is Walking Through Fire. Unfortunately, the song is another less-than-three-minute one. The strumming guitar rock style and the chorus is really striking. Furthermore, I guess that this one could be one of the favorites of long-time The Darkness fans.

10. Weekend In Rome

The British band is closing their 2025 album with a Weekend in Rome. It feels like a perfect fade out. After a short narrative part, it is a gentle track on the vocal side with an according instrumentation. There are in fact Italian music vibes in there as well. The last bit surprises with an narrative and orchestral section. Grazie, The Darkness.

 

The Darkness – Dreams On Toast – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

The Darkness – Dreams On Toast – My View

The album is versatile, it is surprising. And, maybe, that also includes that you do not love each and every song in there. From country music to hard rock – The Darkness got it all in Dreams on Toast. I had fun, wanted to party and felt fascinated. So I just have to pay respect to this record.

Favorite Song: Rock And Roll Party Cowboy

 

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