The Others - When In Doubt

Cult 00s heroes The Others return this Friday with their sixth studio album ‘When in Doubt’. The album will be released for free on their Bandcamp page.

It follows 2025’s ‘Difficulties Understanding’ an album unfairly overlooked but, for good cause, as the celebrations of their debut album were too tempting for all. As the band prepare to celebrate 2006’s ‘Inward Parts’ this March, will ‘When In Doubt’ also fall into the shadows?  

Leading the charge out of the shadows are ‘Met You In Bar’, ‘Never Thought It Would Be So Difficult’, and ‘The Battle of Menotomy’, which act as a perfect bridge from those first two records to The Others’ new realm. Lead single ‘Met You In Bar’ fires up their Buzzcocks guitars alongside new mod-inspired organs. The dreamlike machinations hinted at when they expanded to an eight-piece are now fully realised. ‘Never Thought It Would Be So Difficult’ witnesses frontman Dominic Masters rail against the pressures of modern life on the bread line, invoking ‘This Is For the Poor’. Alongside this come keys steeped in The Stranglers glory days and a chorus worthy of a Spector girl-group. On The Battle of Menotomy, the volatility of their early work is given a brutish injection of Sonic Youth’s power, whilst Masters unleashes a heavy narrative of drink, drugs, and excess. Master’s delivery is marked by great character and drama; it allows images of Terry, the law-abiding man from The Streets’ debut, to flood the senses.

The flourish of their past, while triumphant, is fleeting. The Others are a band with bigger horizons now. ‘Stagger To Your Feet’ unfurls itself as though Goldfrapp and The Membranes have formed a supergroup. Deranged synths groove waywardly as Masters leans into yet more tales of debauchery. ‘Who I Was’ ignites the dirge-rock power of The Stooges and Sonic Youth’s guitars before Tears For Fears and angelic licks melt away the past tortures that Masters is laying bare. ‘I Don’t Mind’ sees the band transcend music and become an untamed animal. The dystopian landscapes of Joy Division collide with the brutality of Husker Du and Sonic Youth, yet their archetypal empathy loiters throughout. It gives the darkest moments hope, as though the shit we’re all wading through in 2026 will be over soon.

There is a therapeutic nature to this record. An openness and a calmness oozing from the new influences on show. It’s an album that can only stem from lived experience, from pained self-reflection and coming through, scarred but not beaten. What is truly uplifting about The Others is that, six albums in, they’re getting better, while most fade and die. ‘Don’t Have To Be Alone’, a sumptuous Orange Juice-esque record, offers their poppiest sound to date. No one from their stage diving crew, the 853 Kamikaze Division, would have imagined this when Inwards Parts was released. All should rejoice; it did.

The Others - Met You In A Bar

Image courtesy of the band

London’s 00s pioneers The Others returned recently with their new single ‘Met You In A Bar’. It’s the lead single from their upcoming sixth studio album ‘When In Doubt’.

Their first official single in fourteen years serves as a bridge from their first two albums to their later eight-piece renaissance. The guitars and drums fire with the punk-rock roar of the Buzzcocks, whilst the Hammond organ lures in mod instincts of The Charlatans and the rabid early power of The Stranglers.

Frontman Dominic Masters' vocals remain as potent, spitting disdain and hurling venom as he regales a toxic relationship. His vocals and the aggressive Steve Diggle fuzz in the verses eventually give way to a Mark Collins-esque solo (The Charlatans) that melts away the bitterness.

Where once they would have kept their feet on the throat and gone out in a blaze of intense glory, now, a divine musicianship is elevating their ability to cause riots. 2026 is shaping up to be their year on this showing.

The Others · Met You In A Bar (Single Edit)

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