Look up. Look around you. What do you see? A row of commuters, lost in their phones. People in pubs looking at small screens, sat under bigger screens. We were sold the possibility of infinite connection, but all it really did was pull us further apart. Because in the modern world, there’s no more alluring temptress than technology and she’s rarely, truly on your side.

When Galway-born, London-based alternative quartet The Clockworks wrapped up touring for their debut album, 2023’s ‘Exit Strategy’, they concluded a game-changing period of their lives that was buoyed by a greater sense of community than ever. That record had cemented the importance of their move to the capital. Not only had it led to them working with Bernard Butler on the album, but it had also set off a domino chain of pinch-me events that saw them tick off support tours with some of their heroes. In 2022, they were taken on the road in the US by Pixies; last year, they wrapped up a string of dates with Johnny Marr.

The latter was so enraptured by the band that he would wander around the venue corridors, loudly singing their songs. “We were playing with these people who are the reason we play music. It makes you feel like you've realised something that you always wanted to do as a musician: forming bands, making albums, being able to shake the hands of people who’ve meant so much to you and tell them that,” recalls Tom Freeman.

It was a monumental time for The Clockworks - completed by James McGregor, Sean Connelly, and Damian Greaney - but when they stepped back into the writing room, they soon had the instinct to turn their focus elsewhere. The new material that swiftly began pouring out of McGregor was rooted in a very clear and distinct world that looked outside of their creative bubble and saw a society wrestling with an increasing isolation born from shiny new toys and bright lights.

The framework of ‘The Entertainment’ came intuitively and fast. “We had this really strong identity for th

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