The Top 25 Albums Of 2021 (So Far): Garbage - 'No Gods No Masters'

After six albums and 30 years as a band, Garbage still have plenty to say with their seventh release No Gods No Masters. 

It had been the works for a while with the band originally starting work back in the 2018 US summer while staying in Palm Springs for two weeks. The world had different plans though and with the subsequent global pandemic striking the band -Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig - completing the final stages of the album separately. 

“Well that’s been really peculiar because I haven't really seen the band,” shared Manson of the experience. 

“I’ve seen them once since lockdown occurred which was to shoot the video for No Gods No Masters. My husband [producer and engineer, Billy Bush] and I basically had to finish all my backing vocals and so on, so forth by ourselves, the band weren’t around, we couldn’t be together, it was illegal, so that was weird. And it remains weird."

While the album has been touted as the band’s most political album to date - beginning with the lines "The men who rule the world / Have made a fucking mess" - even that is up for debate according to frontwoman Shirley Manson. 

“I think it’s strange that whenever you have an opinion, people couch it as political and I don’t think having an opinion about how the world is run, about the problems we face as human beings on this planet, is political. I think it’s just the fallout from living, you know?” she shared when speaking with The Music recently.

No Gods No Masters is fiery, poignant and totally of its time; an important addition to the Garbage back catalogue.