On April 29th, 2022, icons of Bitish hard rock, Thunder, released their first-ever double-album, consisting of 16 tracks, and it’s called Dopamine. Satirical and urgent but never downcast, Dopamine was inspired by the world’s mass retreat to social media during the pandemic, endlessly hunting for the next hit of happy hormones. The first single, “The Western Sky” (link below), shows that despite rallying against instant gratification, sound-wise, Thunder remains as immediate as ever.
Dopamine comes at the perfect time for Thunder, whose line-up for the last quarter-century has been Chris Childs (bass), Luke Morley (guitar), Danny Bowes (singer), Ben Matthews (guitar and keyboards), and Harry James (drums). They’ve been riding a wave of success since their 2015 comeback album Wonder Days, which was followed up by the acclaimed All The Right Noises last year, with Classic Rock speculating that it could be the band’s best album yet. The record went Top 3 in the UK Albums Chart – quite an incredible feat for a British hard rock band into their 4th decade.
Thunder had a start in life like few other bands, delivering a killer debut LP with 1990’s Backstreet Symphony and scoring a US record deal with the help of a keen fan, Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses. Songs like “Dirty Love” and “Low Life In High Places” have gone on to enter the British rock canon.
Dopamine is currently available in CD and double LP vinyl, with exclusive lenticular cover versions available only from the Thunder online store (link below). In May, they embarked upon a UK arena tour, including a date at London’s The SSE Arena Wembley.
BGM caught up with Childs in the UK while he was prepping for the tour. His bass tone on Dopamine is one of the highlights of the album’s production aesthetic. Check out his simply sublime double-stop ostinatos in “No Smoke Without Fire” as a prime example of his craftiness, both performance- and tone-wise. Childs was delighted to discuss his approach to bass within the framework of Thunder, along with some other topics, including mixing a few tracks on Dopamine, how Brexit has affected their ability to tour mainland Europe, and of course, the gear that cracks the sky.
“The Western Sky” (Official Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UGK9Uuqh3I
Official Thunder Website: https://www.thunderonline.com/
Buy Dopamine: https://www.thunderonline.com/buy/dopamine
