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Skunk Anansie - The Painful Truth

Skunk Anansie
Cheers

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  1. Lyric Video
  2. Cheers Lyrics
  3. The Painful Truth – Track Listing

It’s a tragic testament to our times that when I listened to this song I had so many options for that could have inspired its writing. ‘We’re out of time / There’s no hope’ could literally be about 10 things right now. Cheers to that, in a spirit of irony.

We’ll get back to that in a second. First of all, as the artwork for this single hints, there’s a new album coming. It’s been almost a decade since Anarchytecture, but we’re getting their seventh long-player, The Painful Truth, on May 23, 2025.

Compared to ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ with its staccato synth-punk and wiry guitars, ‘Cheers’ has an urgent beat, a melodic bass line, and guitars that provide new wave jags in the verse before locking in for the chorus. I came up Joy Division mixed with U2 but that likely fails to conjure an accurate imagining.

There’s a big drive from Skunk Anansie to keep things fresh and creative with the new album, and the two singles prove this out.

I don’t care that we were big in the ’90s. Creatively it’s irrelevant because in my rock bible the first commandment states, ‘If thy rest on them laurels thy shall wither up and die artistically, musically, mentally. And then financially.’

Skin

Skunk Anansie are living on the road right now, so check their UK and European dates to see if there are tickets left for a show near you.

Lyric Video

Watch Skunk Anansie – ‘Cheers’ (Lyric Video).

Cheers Lyrics

What gives you rights
To sit and wait
While we fester
In our fate

Violent rage
We feel
All this anger
All these ills

But I’ve committed
To your cause
I’m your witness
So let’s raise our drinks and…

Cheers!
Have one more glass
Let’s celebrate
Our big failure
We’ve won
We’re out of time
There’s no more hope
For your saviour
So, cheers!

Where was the kindness
Where’s the love
For all peoples
From above

You left us high
On these false hopes
Left us idols
Not heroes

The Painful Truth – Track Listing

  1. An Artist Is An Artist
  2. This Is Not Your Life
  3. Shame
  4. Lost And Found
  5. Cheers
  6. Shoulda Been You
  7. Animal
  8. Fell In Love With A Girl
  9. My Greatest Moment
  10. Meltdown
PhonotonalMusicSingle Reviews Skunk Anansie – Cheers

Skunk Anansie Articles

Written by Fenton on

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.
Fenton

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