On 26 April 2024, Regent release their highly anticipated second ‘Beggars Belief’.
The swift follow-up to 2022’s acclaimed ‘Just a Revolution’, the latest from the ascending Southampton indie-rock outfit finds them leading the charge with an album for the here and now.
‘Beggars Belief’ is a record of politics and people, love and rage, stress and peace, chances and change.
With a UK general election looming large in everyone’s minds, frontman Ben Rooke takes little time in giving listeners his two cents on the current state of things.
“You tell me something, some big fat porky pies. You think that I’m stupid, I see right through those lies” he seethes on opening number “Beggars Belief”.
As Rooke explains:“[Beggars Belief] is a complete dig at the establishment and everything we believe or are told to believe… From the pandemic to wars, the cost of living crisis, to the mockery of the government, and how we the people have been treated these past few years. Corruption runs deep worldwide, not just in this country… I wanted to write a record that sums these times up.”
One of a number of tracks that openly rail against the establishment, ‘Beggars Belief’ is a record that finds the five-piece seizing the megaphone to declare that enough is enough. Take the slow-burning grunge-rock of “Can’t You See”, a sneering takedown of the apparent greed within Whitehall while the vast divides in society continue to widen. Or the Brit-glam stomper “She Checks My Head”, a song that openly derides the cost of living crisis thrown upon us in recent years, while placing the blame squarely at the feet of the government. Elsewhere the cacophonous, feedback squalled “Liberation” calls for an uprising of the people, while its closely related cousin “Set Me Free” envisions the possibilities of a different, freer world; a song that closes their case for change with an emphatic, blazing, technicoloured finale reminiscent of “Champagne Supernova”.
Away from politics and society, ‘Beggars Belief’ finds the frontman writing about issues much closer to home. With its jangling “House of the Rising Son” styled intro, the candid “Oh No, I Know” finds Rooke confessing to his past issues with addiction with some of his most tender songwriting so far. Elsewhere, the only too relatable “She Checks My Head” sees him opening up about his personal struggles with mental health. And yet, while there are detours into these darker corners of life, themes of silver linings and the salvation to be found in hope, peace, and love, in all its forms are never far behind. Take the string-laden sentiment of “Let Me In”, a touching tribute to his wife’s good nature and “how love can make you a better person, and can make you reign it in if you feel you are ever falling off the tracks of life”. Or the autobiographical “Here We Go”, a celebration of the healing camaraderie Rooke has found within Regent, as he addresses “how far we’ve come through many setbacks”. Whereas the Ride-like rush of “Flying High” simply champions those universal feelings of “love, hope, faith and everything in between” that bind us all as humans. As Rooke concludes: “Love is the answer through all life’s struggles”.
Featuring the singles “Flying High”, “Liberation”, “Oh No, I Know” and the recently released title-track, ‘Beggars Belief’ finds Regent ready to defy expectations. Taking the revolutionary spirit of their debut to the masses, Regent’s latest sees them sailing with the winds of change and making the statement of their career to date.
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