Joy as an Act of Resistance

The band started recording the album in 2017. Singer Joe Talbot stated "This album is an attempt to be vulnerable to our audience and to encourage vulnerability; a brave naked smile in this shitty new world." According to Talbot "lots of songs got scrapped because there was this pressure, which we were carrying but not talking about. We were trying to sustain the success of 'Brutalism', to basically remake it. So we kind of scrapped all the songs and talked about why we weren't enjoying writing it." and mixed by Adam Greenspan and Nick Launay. The album's cover art features a photograph of a fight at a wedding in 1968 that Talbot saw on Instagram. The title phrase is similar to the title of the 2008 poem, "Joy Is An Act of Resistance" (part of a series of poems called "The Telly Cycle") by Pushcart Prize-winning poet Toi Derricotte, whose work as a Black woman explores race and identity. == Lyrics ==

The album's lyrics deal with toxic masculinity, love, self-love, immigration, Brexit, and class. "June" deals with the death in childbirth of Talbot's daughter Agatha. It also includes a cover version of the Solomon Burke hit "Cry To Me". == Promotion and release ==

Four of the album's tracks were made available for download prior to its release: "Colossus", "Danny Nedelko" (named after Talbot's friend of the same name and singer with the band Heavy Lungs), "Samaritans", and "Great". To promote the album, the band announced a world tour taking in Japan, North America, and Europe. The day before the album's release, an art exhibition in London opened, displaying and selling artworks inspired by the album, with the proceeds going to the charity Samaritans. An interview with Talbot aired on ITV News at Ten, discussing the album. == Commercial performance ==

On 20 December 2019, over 1 year after its release, Joy as an Act of Resistance was certified Silver by the BPI for selling 60,000 copies in the United Kingdom. == Reception ==

Joy as an Act of Resistance was met with widespread critical acclaim. Jordan Bassett, reviewing the album for NME, awarded the album five stars, calling it "an instant classic". Ged Babey, writing for Louder Than War called it "One of the most inspiring albums I have heard for a long, long time. Punk Rock reinvented and not wearing a mask of masculinity or yoke of tradition, but a wicked smile and its broken heart exposed but still beating in its chest. Punk rock which instead of calling for Anarchy and saying I Don’t Care is shouting UNITY! and LOVE IS ALL." Jake Kennedy, for Record Collector, gave it four stars, calling it "an album that manages to combine grief, self-loathing and a realisation that life’s better played honest, with a fine-tuned, brutal sound: something like bent sheet metal being hammered straight." Ava Muir from Exclaim! applauded the album, saying, "IDLES turn trauma and anger into affirming lessons on Joy As an Act of Resistance, crafting a cathartic masterpiece that wears its heart — broken, but still beating — on its sleeve." Ryan Drever, for The Skinny, gave it three stars, stating that "many of these songs raise some serious hell", but viewed the tracks as too similar. PopMatters' Paul Carr gave it 9/10, commenting on what he saw as "a profound sense of joy on the album". In the review for AllMusic, Liam Martin concluded that "Overall, Joy as an Act of Resistance manages to plumb new depths for Idles — that they've achieved another record in such a short space of time is admirable, let alone one that shines head and shoulders over the majority of their peers — and it certainly upholds their status as one of the U.K.'s most exciting new acts." Accolades ==Track listing==

Notes • "Never Fight a Man with a Perm" incorporates an interpolation of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", written by Lee Hazlewood and originally performed by American singer, Nancy Sinatra. ==Personnel==

Idles • Joe Talbot – lead vocals • Mark Bowen – guitar • Lee Kiernan – guitar • Adam Devonshire – bass • Jon Beavis – drums Production • Space – producer • Nick Launay – mixing • Adam 'Atom' Greenspan – mixing ==Charts==