I'm totally fine with it 👍 don't give a fuck anymore 👍

The title of Arab Strap’s eighth album came from a text message the pair’s touring drummer sent co-leader Aidan Moffat. Thankfully, it quickly becomes apparent that there isn’t much Aidan Moffat is totally fine with. As he and Malcolm Middleton journey into their fifties, the Falkirk duo are still reassuringly full of piss, vinegar and ire at the world around them. Moffat turns his unforgivingly caustic eye to a litany of modern-day ills (growing old alone, social media and the “crippling fucking FOMO” of post-Covid life among them), while Middleton creates one of his most diverse sets of musical backdrops yet, shifting from techno, folk and even a bit of thrash metal. Here’s to growing old grumpily.