A hugely sucessful new album, showcasing a talented band, celebrated with a tour!
From London and Norwich, Millie Manders And The Shut Up are one of the best female fronted bands to watch live. They formed back in 2012 and have risen through the years with their catchy and inspirational music. They released their second album ‘Wake Up, Shut Up, Work’ on 2nd August 2024, just in time for a stunning main stage performance at Rebellion Festival, and they are currently on tour with Ramona’s Tea Party.
This album was recorded and mixed by Claire Sutton at Western Audio Studios and mastered by Katie Tavini at Weird Jungle.
Millie says “We had, including George and I, 9 women working on the project. We have 6 women on tour with us including our photographer, sound engineer and drivers. It was a focus of the whole project to get more women into a very male dominated part of the music industry.”
The main band are: Millie Manders – Lyrics, melodies, glockenshpiel, and vocals, Joe Quigley – Guitars and synths, Pete Wright – Drums and percussion and George Boreham – Bass.
Playing on the album are: Liz Mitchell – Saxaphones, Fallon Howe – Trumpet, Alleya Meyer – Violin and viola, Samara Ginsburg – Cello and Claire Sutton – Keys.
First on ‘Wake Up, Shut Up, Work’ we have ‘Angry Side’. This song is very catchy and is perfect to dance to. Millie has an incredible voice and the harmonization from her and the rest of the band is absolutely beautiful to listen to. Millie describes it as “a letter to my teenage self, apologising for being so angry and wanting to burn down the world.”
Next on the album is ‘Shut Your Mouth’. Millie is impressive with her fast lyrics and the song has a great beat. All the instruments blend so well together and this song is another perfect one to dance to. The harmonizing was insane! Absolutely perfect! Millie says it is “a track that delves into the concept of ‘fair-weather friends’, highlighting those individuals who only reach out when they want something from you.”
The third song on the album is ‘Me Too’. It has the electric guitar to start the song off, which sounded awesome, and Millie had lovely, soft tones in her voice throughout the song, with moments of her voice being loud and blaring, in the absolute best way. The drumming complimented the song well and the roar near the end was a highlight! Yes, it is about sexual harassment and violence, and the way the justice system has frequently mishandled these crimes; “You blame the girl for being weak.”
The fourth song on the album is ‘Fun Sponge’. Both the saxophones and trumpets complimented the song extremely well. Again, Millie has an incredible harmonizing voice and the song itself is very catchy. Another one to add to the dance list! The band enjoyed playing it at Rebellion this year – “We all know a fun sponge, don’t we?”
The fifth song on the album is ‘Windows’. The lyrics are about mental health from a personal viewpoint. There is the deep bass sound which starts the song off, with the saxophone and trumpets loud throughout the song. Millie has a raspy voice near the end of the song, it’s very impressive.
The sixth song on the album is ‘R.I.P’. Millie has a soft, harmonizing voice at the beginning of the song, with an upbeat sound throughout. And the keys sounding lovely, they were soft and had a sparkle sound.
The next song on the album is ‘Halloween’. What a perfect song for this time of year! Millie shows us how stunning her voice can be, with high notes that are absolutely incredible! Reminiscing upon a lost love, a tender and mellow song.
Next on the album is ‘Rebound’. Another perfect song to dance to. Both fast lyrics and drums are insane! The song is very catchy also. Very deep and powerful. Millie criticises those who approach dating as an ego prop, rather than the partnership it should be.
The ninth song on the album is ‘One That Got Away A.V’. This song is a re-recording of an old song. Still absolutely enjoyable! This version is more upbeat and fast. A few lyrics are different to the original. Overall it’s a great song and very amazingly done the second time around! A live Ska-based favourite.
The tenth song on this album is ‘Threadbare’. The cymbals and bass stand out really well during the middle of the song. More impressive fast lyrics and an upbeat sound throughout, despite the seriousness of the lyrics about the realities of living in poverty.
The eleventh song on this album is ‘Can I Get Off?’. The drums stand out a lot. Millie has a lot of power and emotion in her voice for this song. Speaking out against genocide and war, it’s never been more important to oppose the hatred that leads to these atrocities.
The final song to complete this album is ‘Pressure’. This song is a little heavier, lots of power and harmonizing, lots of emotion, and the band overall sounded incredible with their instruments, complementing the whole song really well. Another song about mental health, this time the crippling burden of anxiety.
Overall, this album is a banger! It was recorded extremely well, all of the band contributed and made it a success, and Millie herself made it insane with her voice! Very powerful and inspirational songs.
Catch Millie Manders and The Shutup LIVE at one of the following dates in November: Tickets HERE
‘Wake Up, Shut Up, Work’ is available on CD and vinyl HERE, and is streaming on all platforms.
Main Photo Credit: TINA KORHONEN
- Angry Side
- Shut Your Mouth
- Me Too
- Fun Sponge
- Windows
- R.I.P.
- Halloween
- Rebound
- One That Got Away (album version)
- Threadbare
- Can I Get Off?
- Pressure
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