The Painful Truth
| The Painful Truth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 23 May 2025 | |||
| Studio | Federal Prism, Los Angeles | |||
| Length | 37:55 | |||
| Label | FLG | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Skunk Anansie chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Painful Truth | ||||
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The Painful Truth is the seventh studio album by English band Skunk Anansie. It was released on 23 May 2025 by FLG Records.[1]
Background
On 26 February 2025, Skunk Anansie, alongside producer David Sitek, announced the release of their new studio album The Painful Truth.[1]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Classic Rock | [3] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| Kerrang! | [5] |
| Metal Hammer | [6] |
| MusicOMH | [7] |
The Painful Truth was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 79, based on 6 reviews.[2]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Skunk Anansie and David Andrew Sitek except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "An Artist Is an Artist" | 3:11 | |
| 2. | "This Is Not Your Life" | 3:24 | |
| 3. | "Shame" | 4:06 | |
| 4. | "Lost and Found" |
| 4:15 |
| 5. | "Cheers" | 3:26 | |
| 6. | "Shoulda Been You" | 3:50 | |
| 7. | "Animal" | 4:07 | |
| 8. | "Fell in Love" | 4:27 | |
| 9. | "My Greatest Moment" |
| 3:43 |
| 10. | "Meltdown" | 3:26 |
Personnel
- Skin – vocals and backing vocals, keyboards, echo
- Cass – bass
- Ace – guitar
- Mark – drums, percussion and pulsar
- David Andrew Sitek – guitars and keyboards
- Charlie Coffeen – keyboards on "Lost and Found", "Meltdown"
- Patrick Siroishi – horns on "An Artist Is an Artist"
Technical
- David Andrew Sitek – producer (all tracks), recording
- Hudson Mohawke – producer ("My Greatest Moment")
- Derek Coburn – recording
- Elizaveta Boldyreva – recording
- Matty Green at Studio 55 – mixing
- Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, Nashville – mastering
Visual
- Stylorouge – design and art direction
- Dan Abbott – front cover illlustration
- Rob O'Connor – photography
- Kim Howells – styling
- Daniel Kolaric – make up
Charts
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] | 38 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9] | 180 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] | 58 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[11] | 6 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] | 17 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[13] | 7 |
| UK Album Downloads (OCC)[14] | 5 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[15] | 3 |
References
- ^ a b Garner, Emily (26 February 2025). "Skunk Anansie announce first studio album in nine years, The Painful Truth". Kerrang!.
- ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Dalton, Stephen (23 May 2025). "Skunk Anansie: The Painful Truth Album Review". Louder Sound. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Simpson, Dave (23 May 2025). "Skunk Anansie: The Painful Truth review - A Raw Triumph of reinvention and resilience". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Beebee, Steve (19 May 2025). "Album review: Skunk Anansie - The Painful Truth". Kerrang!. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Johnston, Emma (22 May 2025). "The Painful Truth is Skunk Anansie's most vital and inventive album in years". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Shepherd, Sam (27 May 2025). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 30/5/2025 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart on 30/5/2025 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart on 30/5/2025 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart on 30/5/2025 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
External links
- The Painful Truth at Discogs (list of releases)
- The Painful Truth at MusicBrainz (list of releases)