When a band decides to venture back to the studio where it all began, it can be often tempting to frame it as an act of nostalgia. There is, after all, an almost poetic symmetry in a group returning to the same barn in Banbury that they recorded their self-titled debut over a decade ago. But for Nothing But Thieves - vocalist Conor Mason, guitarists Joe Langridge-Brown and Dominic Craik, bassist Philip Blake, and drummer James Price - the reality of returning to the historic Angelic Studios to record new music was less sentimental. “Walking in, you almost remember it being bigger,” Dominic Craik muses. “We’d never been to a residential studio back then... we just thought we’d won the lottery. We were like, ‘This will be the first and last album we ever made, so just enjoy the ride.’ To go back there and do your fifth album was this kind of full-circle moment.” If the 20-somethings that first walked through those doors were focused on experimentation as a means of self-discovery, this iteration of Nothing But Thieves arrived with a sense of clarity, bolstered by the road-tested skills of a global headline act. Since forming in 2012, the five-piece have amassed a fiercely dedicated global fanbase, translating into billions of streams, 1.2 million album sales and multiple gold and platinum records around the world. 2025 marked a decade since the release of their self-titled debut, and with four top-ten albums under their belt, including their first UK Number One with 2023's Dead Club City, their live footprint has grown to match their chart momentum. Having played thousands of shows globally, their last UK tour saw them cement their arena status, culminating in two landmark, sold-out nights at Wembley Arena and Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome. Stepping into Angelic Studios, the intention was to apply that same technical mastery that they had honed on arena stages in a space that they finally understood. “A lot of the way we write is very reactionary to what