Don't Worry and the unbridled indie rock joy and retro propulsions of "Unbelievable"

 

"It’s unbelievable / My head in the sand / My feet on the clouds / Am I bound to this fresh hell? / It’s inconceivable / A drawn out affair / A flash in the pan / Am I bound to this flesh cell?"

The unbridled indie rock joy and retro propulsions of "Unbelievable" by Essex / London UK alternative indie band Don't Worry, and from their upcoming third album 'Idealism' out July 18th via Specialist Subject Records, is instantly magnetic feeling like a hybrid of iconic cross generational music. While you might feel other sonic touchstones depending on your musical perspectives and outlooks, I personally feel a rich dynamic heart injection of many things. A splashing kind of mod sound like The Jam colliding with the fanciful 80's indie power pop prowess of Squeeze or The Undertones tangentially embracing the fanciful 80's indie power pop prowess of Squeeze or The Undertones and distilled all at once through Pixies-esque subversions on top of the most cool Ringo Starr back beat. Whatever you hear and however you hear it, I bet you are smiling like me because there is something ultra special about this song, this sound and how it make us feel.     

Songwriter Samuel Watson shares:

"Unbelievable was written during the first lockdown in 2020. I had been going through a sustained period of feeling uninspired and it was the first song I’d finished in months and subsequently it’s about trying to break through that struggle. Musically it’s inspired by early Beatles and 1960s sunshine pop, deliberately contrasted with the dystopia we were all living through at that time."

I love this song without a traditional chorus, not only because of the driving bass and drums, the heavy guitar distortions with bending riffs but maybe mostly, the vocal melodies that prop up the whimsical, yet kind of sad, yet kind of happy in wonderful ways. As someone who used to be a songwriter (feigned smile), the vocal melodies of "Unbelievable" are so enticing and artful that if you are a musician or singer, you want to play and sing this song. 

All the lyrics stick with me but these are the stickiest. 

"Make it immovable

Both solid and soft
Not just on or off
Pull the strands out one by one
Make it believable
Drive into the fog
Show the daily slog
Everyone’s got thoughts worth thinking out loud

Park the pencil
Cut the Sharon fruit
Follow your breath
Through slow grass
Coming to a head
The coffee is brewed

Oh
Fine, wait if you must
Four seasons rolled into one split second"

 LINER NOTES (bracketed, excerpted):

[‘Idealism’ is an album about navigating life in the 2020s as millennial adults, and all the difficulties and uncertainties that come with that - knowing you’ll probably never be able to afford to buy a house, and that a simple grocery shop costs way more than ever before. But it’s also about all the joys and positives of modern life too - being kind to yourself, being kind to other people, and overcoming difficulties.

The band tries to capture that dichotomy on this album, hence the title ‘Idealism’, which the dictionary says is “the unrealistic belief in or pursuit of perfection”.

The album has been a long time in the making, diligently demoed before tracking across studios in London & Essex. Taking a more pop production approach, layering parts and additional keyboards, synthesisers and percussion to add a richer and fuller sound to their traditional indie rock set up.

Nostalgia has always been a running theme for Don’t Worry, as displayed on 2022’s ‘Remorseless Swing’ and 2018 debut album ‘Who Cares Anyway?’. There’s a decent dose of it on this new album still, including on the cover, with a photograph taken in their home of Harlow New Town in 2001 by Jim Brown. And in their musical influences, Pavement, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, The Streets, Fleetwood Mac, UK Grime and The GTA Vice City Soundtrack (alongside contemporary influences such as Fontaines D.C., MJ Lenderman, Andy Shauf).

But perhaps for the first time on this album, they push through the comfort of the past, embrace the present and look forward to the future with hope.]

-Robb Donker Curtius

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

3rd June - Hertford, Hearts Club

6th June - Norwich, Space Studios

11th September - Oxford, Common Ground

12th September - London, The Lexington

13th September - Portsmouth, The Royal Albert

14th September - Brighton, The Pipeline

15th September - Bristol, Exchange

16th September - Cardiff, Paradise Garden

17th September - Lincoln, Akedo

18th September - Leeds, Wharf Chambers

19th September - Newcastle, The Cumberland Arms

20th September - Manchester, Fuel

specialistsubject · Unbelievable

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5cc7uhz3I52ZJWZEvhb6lf

https://dontworry.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/dontworryband/

https://www.facebook.com/dontworryband

https://x.com/dontworryband


Third album from Essex indie rockers coming 18th July 2025 via Specialist Subject Records.

‘Idealism’ is an album about navigating life in the 2020s as millennial adults, and all the difficulties and uncertainties that come with that - knowing you’ll probably never be able to afford to buy a house, and that a simple grocery shop costs way more than ever before. But it’s also about all the joys and positives of modern life too - being kind to yourself, being kind to other people, and overcoming difficulties.

The band tries to capture that dichotomy on this album, hence the title ‘Idealism’, which the dictionary says is “the unrealistic belief in or pursuit of perfection”.

Don't Worry, Essex / London UK, indie rock, post punk, alt pop, Brit pop, superior songwriting, nostalgic, retro rock, alt rock, dynamic musicality, new album 'Idealism', jammy track "Unbelievable"