End Of World

An eight-year gap separated 2015s What the World Needs Now…, the second album from John Lydons 21st century lineup of Public Image Ltd., and 2023s End of World, and for a change the time away from the studio and John Lydons crankiness can be easily explained -- his wife, Nora Forster, died in April 2023 after a long struggle with Alzheimers disease, with Lydon serving as her primary caregiver in her last years. If anyone thought the experience might mellow the former Johnny Rotten a little, theyre a tiny bit right -- the closing track, "Hawaii," was written for Forster, and its a rare moment where he writes and sings from a place of compassion, offering an image of comfort and serenity to someone slipping into the darkness. Otherwise, End of World is clearly the work of British rocks leading cranky ranter. If theres a slightly more rueful tone in some of the other 12 tracks, "Pretty Awful," "L F C F," and "Down on the Clown" suggest he has no more use for humanity now than he ever has, and anyone who was not pleased with his endorsements of Donald Trump and Brexit should skip "Being Stupid Again," where he spits bile at activists and students. (Though how many are really shouting to Ban the Bomb or Save the Whales in 2023? Does Lydon know what year it is?) Musically, End of World marks the first time PiL has had the same lineup for three albums in a row. While subtle is not an adjective often applied to this band, guitarist Lu Edmonds, bassist Scott Firth, and drummer Bruce Smith play together with an authority and sense of communication thats audible in the sinewy groove of "Walls" and the off-kilter late-night rhythms of "Dirty Murky Delight" (the latter suggesting Lydon has been listening to his old Ian Dury records recently) as much as the louder, more ferocious attack of "North West Passage" and the title track, which hit hard without overplaying their hand. End of World isnt as immediately satisfying as the two albums that preceded it, but unlike lesser first-era PiL releases like 1984s This Is What You Want…This Is What You Get and 1992s That What Is Not, here Lydon has ideas and sounds focused on making them into something, and he has a band capable of giving him all the support he needs. Its not entirely successful, but its not lazy, either, and at this stage of Lydons career (and given a very trying situation at home), thats to be commended. ~ Mark Deming