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Dreams on Toast

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Dreams on Toast
Studio album by
The Darkness
Released28 March 2025 (2025-03-28)
StudioHawkland Studios, Suffolk
GenreGlam Rock
Length33:05
Label
ProducerDan Hawkins
The Darkness chronology
Motorheart
(2021) 		Dreams on Toast
(2025)
Singles from Dreams on Toast
  1. "The Longest Kiss"
    Released: 18 September 2024
  2. "I Hate Myself"
    Released: 10 December 2024
  3. "Rock and Roll Party Cowboy"
    Released: 24 January 2025
  4. "Walking Through Fire"
    Released: 24 February 2025
  5. "The Battle for Gadget Land"
    Released: 10 March 2025
  6. "Hot on My Tail"
    Released: 24 March 2025

Dreams on Toast is the eighth studio album by the British hard rock band the Darkness, released on 28 March 2025 on Canary Dwarf and Cooking Vinyl.[1] Produced by guitarist Dan Hawkins, the album was preceded by the singles, "The Longest Kiss", "I Hate Myself", "Rock and Roll Party Cowboy", "Walking Through Fire", "The Battle for Gadget Land" and "Hot on My Tail".

Released to positive reviews, the album debuted at number two on both the UK Albums Chart and Scottish Albums Chart and number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

Writing and composition

[edit]

The album's opening track, "Rock and Roll Party Cowboy", is a satire on rock and roll cliches, with frontman Justin Hawkins noting, "It's got that gay undercurrent. Rock can be so straight and misogynistic, it drives me mad. I wanted to subvert those tropes."[2] The album's fourth track, "Mortal Dread", addresses the passage of time and changing cultural values: "The world's changing. The perceptions of what's toxic, the things you were taught to be when you were younger are now unacceptable, you're losing your raison d'être. You get to my age and you go, 'If I'm not a man, what am I?'"[2]

The album's penultimate track, "Walking Through Fire", directly addresses the band's current position within the music industry, with Justin Hawkins noting, "I think ambition is a little bit ugly. When you lay stuff bare like that and you talk about the experience of doing things, that’s nearly as interesting as the music itself. If anyone is inclined to pay attention to the lyrics, they’re getting an experience of what this existence looks like and feels like."[2]

During the writing process, the band wrote roughly 150 songs in contention for the album.[2]

Release

[edit]

On 18 September 2024, the band announced they were set to release the new album Dreams on Toast in March. The album was released on 28 March 2025. Along with the announcement, the band announced an extensive list of UK tour dates which took place from 6 March to 1 April 2025, in support of the release of the album.[3] Additional dates were added to play songs from the album for the first time[4][5] alongside dates in Ireland.[6]

Six singles were released: "The Longest Kiss",[7] "I Hate Myself",[8] "Rock and Roll Party Cowboy",[9] "Walking Through Fire",[10] "The Battle for Gadget Land"[11] and "Hot on My Tail".[12]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Classic Rock[15]
Exclaim!6/10[16]
Kerrang!4/5[17]
Mojo[18]
musicOMH[19]
PopMatters5/10[20]

The album received generally favourable reviews by critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album earned an average score of 67, based on 8 reviews.[13]

Track listing

[edit]
Dreams on Toast track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Rock and Roll Party Cowboy"4:27
2."I Hate Myself"3:15
3."Hot on My Tail"3:23
4."Mortal Dread"3:29
5."Don't Need Sunshine"3:01
6."The Longest Kiss"2:49
7."The Battle for Gadget Land"3:32
8."Cold Hearted Woman"3:10
9."Walking Through Fire"2:54
10."Weekend in Rome"3:03
Total length:33:05

Bonus Tracks

Christmas edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Mistletoe and Wine" 
Justin-signed exclusive bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."The Wishing Well" 
Dan-signed exclusive bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Au Revoir, My Friend" 
Frankie-signed exclusive bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Peppermint and Chamomile" 
Rufus-signed exclusive bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."My Only" 

Personnel

[edit]

The Darkness

Additional personnel

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Dreams on Toast
Chart (2025) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 45
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 37
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 49
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 96
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 58
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] 89
Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] 2
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[28] 91
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 49
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 2
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[31] 1
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[32] 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Wilson-Taylor, James (18 September 2024). "The Darkness Announce New Album 'Dreams On Toast'". Rock Sound. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Everley, Dave (21 April 2025). ""It's getting ridiculous. We're the last men standing, unless some new wave of rock comes along..." The rise, fall and resurrection of The Darkness, the band on a mission to save rock". Louder Sound. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  3. ^ "New Album 'Dreams On Toast' & UK Tour Announced!". The Darkness. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  4. ^ "The Darkness announce Rough Trade in-store shows for Dreams On Toast album". Radio X. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  5. ^ "The Darkness to play Beckett Student Union in exclusive Leeds gig". uk.style.yahoo.com. 23 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  6. ^ O'Mahony, Jake. "The Darkness announce two Irish concert dates". Hotpress. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  7. ^ "THE DARKNESS release first single "The Longest Kiss" off new album – Arrow Lords of Metal".
  8. ^ "Listen to the Darkness' punk-inspired new single 'I Hate Myself'". NME. 10 December 2024.
  9. ^ "THE DARKNESS Releases New Single 'Rock and Roll Party Cowboy' from Upcoming 'Dreams on Toast' Album". 24 January 2025.
  10. ^ "Listen to the Darkness' glorious new single, Walking Through Fire". 24 February 2025.
  11. ^ @thedarkness (6 March 2025). "The Darkness Exclusive Tour Laminate!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "The Darkness Share New Single with Accompanying Video for "Hot on My Tail"". 24 March 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Reviews for Dreams on Toast by The Darkness". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  14. ^ Yeung, Neil Z. (28 March 2025). "Dreams on Toast - The Darkness". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  15. ^ Lewrie, Fraser. ""When the storm clouds clear, the band's innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever": In a world of bread-and-butter rock bands, The Darkness remain the toast of the town". Classic Rock. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  16. ^ Pearson, Luke (24 March 2025). "The Darkness's 'Dreams on Toast' Are Stale but Endearingly Saucy". Exclaim!. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  17. ^ Hickie, James. "Album review: The Darkness – Dreams On Toast". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  18. ^ Dreams On Toast's music is much less nuanced and thought-provoking - but that's no slur. [May 2025, p.86]
  19. ^ Livesey, Donovan (30 March 2025). "The Darkness – Dreams On Toast". musicOMH. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  20. ^ Lyng, Eoghan (2 April 2025). "The Darkness Re-Emerge With a Solid But Predictable Album". PopMatters. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  21. ^ "Grentperez backflips into a top 3 debut". Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 April 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  22. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Darkness – Dreams on Toast" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  23. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Darkness – Dreams on Toast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  24. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Darkness – Dreams on Toast" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Darkness – Dreams on Toast" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  26. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts (Week 14, 2025)". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  27. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  28. ^ "Top 100 Albums – Week 14". El Portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  29. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Darkness – Dreams on Toast". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  30. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  31. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  32. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
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