Skunk Anansie – 'The Painful Truth' Album Review

Sean Friswell
May 29
3 min read

Tracklist:

An Artist Is An Artist
This Is Not Your Life
Shame
Lost And Found
Cheers
Shoulda Been You
Animal
Fell In Love With A Girl
My Greatest Moment
Meltdown

I first fell in love with Skunk back in the 90’s but wasn’t lucky enough to see them in their first incarnation, but there was something about the urgency of their music, their passion, their emotional impact, their music itself and Skin’s amazing voice that I fell in love with, I was gutted when they disbanded/went on a break in 2001. Don’t ask me why I loved them so much because on paper my experience of life hasn’t been the same as Skins but that was always the genius of the band in that first incarnation, they spoke to their audience in both a very personal way while, at the same time, exploring universal themes, all the while having one of the best vocalists to ever emerge from the UK.

The second coming of Skunk Anansie, starting in 2008, gave me the opportunity to see them live and I honestly don’t think there is a better live act from the UK right now, having had the privilege of seeing them live, Skin is the consummate front person for any rock band, they are an incredibly tight unit and they put on a tremendous show.

The thing is, while I’ve enjoyed their new albums none of them, for me, has quite risen to the heights they achieved first time round, songs like 'Weak', 'Hedonism' and 'Yes It’s Political' are still on my playlists and will never leave them as I think they are some of the greatest songs ever written. I have enjoyed the new material, but nothing has hit me as hard as those first album.

I therefore approached this album with slight trepidation, every new Skunk album I hope they’ve rediscovered the anger, the drive, the top quality songwriting that made them something special, but they’ve not quite reached their previous heights although they have written some very good music that most bands would love to be able to achieve, that is, until now!

'The Painful Truth' is the best Skunk album since 'Stoosh', the mix of punk, queer love songs, anger, determination and brilliant singing and playing is like a balm to my soul. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve longed for them to blow me away again, to make me feel what I felt when I heard that first album, they have emphatically done so, this is one of the truly essential albums of 2025, it’s a mixture of styles, of topics, of sounds but consistently throughout there is Skin’s amazing voice, sounding as good as it ever has, with the band sounding better than ever.

There are some songs on here that are destined for my playlists, 'An Artist is an Artist' opens the whole thing and is a clear statement of what the band think, we are as relevant now as we have ever been and what do critics know about it, yes I’m aware of the irony that I’m writing a review of the song, but its one of the most insistent Skunk songs in a long time. It’s going to sound amazing live!

As well as that song I think my highlights are 'Shoulda Been You', 'Shame', 'My Greatest Moment' and 'This Is Not Your Life' but that’s a personal view and you will find other favourites, it’s a consistently excellent album, I really enjoyed listening to it. It made my remember just how great it is to hear a great new album for the first time.

This is a band who headlined Glastonbury, who have sold 5 million records but who have never, in my view, been treated with enough respect, enough acknowledgement, of just how good they.

If this album doesn’t change that and see them elevated to the upper ranks of British music them there is no justice in this world, and we should all give up now. My only regret is that I suspect that I won’t get to see them in decent sized venues going forward, it’s a price I’m willing to pay if it means more people get to her the genius of this band.

Skunk Ananise are 100% back and as good they have ever been, this is an outstanding album!