Nothing But Thieves Broken Machine

Sustained passion and crushing power are the dominant textures emerging from the Essex band’s second album. Credit singer Conor Mason, who lets his multi-octave voice proudly unfurl like a terrace banner. They rock with razor focus and an ear for sublime hooks and audio tricks on tracks like “I’m Not Made By Design” and “Amsterdam”. When they slow it down, like on “Particles”, “Hell, Yeah” and “Soda”, Nothing But Thieves unlock stadium-anthem levels on par with Radiohead or Keane.