Scorching Milk‘s Han Mee and Jim Shaw information us by means of the creation of the band’s second album, ‘Company P.O.P’, out on June 27 by way of Music For Nations.
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England is burning – and Scorching Milk are right here to douse the flames. In an period of mass desensitisation and commodified distress, the Mancunians are unleashing ‘Company P.O.P’ onto the world, a rip-roaring burst of socio-political alt rock condemning the insidious realities of company management. It’s Scorching Milk’s most political feat so far – and one they insist was a very long time coming.
Spearheaded by the outspoken Han Mee and industrious Jim Shaw, the rambunctious pair have been harbouring political resentment for years. 2025, nevertheless, has tipped them over the sting. In all places you look, human rights are being missed in favour of revenue, “We had no alternative, actually,” Han says with a frown. “We simply needed to say one thing – what else was I going to put in writing about?”
Whereas their 2023 debut, ‘A Name To The Void’, centered on extra inner affairs, unravelling the intricacies of hysteria and self-doubt, ‘Company P.O.P’ was a obligatory shift of focus. With an obsessive and ever-growing fanbase, the band felt it was about time to step up onto their soapbox and make a distinction. And Han’s dad would function the ultimate straw, spurring the frontwoman into motion.
“My Dad simply mentioned to me as soon as, ’does anybody even care what you’re moaning about?’” she remembers, laughing to herself. “It made me assume… ’Y’know what, honest. I’ll touch upon the issues that actually matter.’”
What else actually issues? Effectively, Manchester, in fact. Following on from Han’s quick stint residing in LA, the frontwoman has doubled down on her Northern delight. Upon realising that the American dreamland felt too pretend, she returned to her roots – the attract of gritty cornershops, rough-around-the-edges pubs and a correct pint was an excessive amount of to withstand. All through, ‘Company P.O.P’ additionally sprinkles in loads of Mancunian delight, from music movies set in Salford to ‘Swallow This’ paying tribute to Manchester’s rave scene.
With a rock-solid sense of self and ample company fury, this file showcases Scorching Milk at their most mature – effectively, form of. Whereas the file toys with three half harmonies, sweltering waltz actions, and arena-worthy riffs, there’s nonetheless loads of cheeky, unpretentious lyricisms. Its punk rage served with a aspect of snot-nosed defiance, Han and Jim balancing eye-rolling sarcasm and sharp fury all through every monitor.
So, with out additional adieu, let’s dive into the guts, soul and socio-political whirlwind of ‘Company P.O.P’.
THE SOUND
As opener ‘(How Do I) Make The Satan Fall Asleep’ booms into life, ‘Company P.O.P’s end-of-days gloom unfurls with a vengeance. Urged on by a foreboding bassline, the monitor serves because the file’s mission assertion; we “can’t depend on lullabies” to melt 2025’s nightmarish political turmoil, so the one reply is to confront the problems head-on.
It’s an unflinching method to make an entrance – and one which immediately distances Scorching Milk from the brilliant and breezy connotations of the pop-punk style. Regardless of the pair constantly striving to maintain their palette various, blurring the strains between emo, EDM and energy pop, they’re but to shake the pop-punk associations. “We’ve by no means preferred the label of ‘pop-punk’,” frontwoman Han Mee asserts. “We’re extra punk. The whole lot we do is extra in your face and gritty than these wet-lad pop-punk bands.”
It’s a testomony Han’s companion in crime, Jim Shaw, firmly agrees with, noting how even their introspective 2023 debut, ‘A CALL TO THE VOID’, was scattered with political undertones. Hopefully, the punk rock ethos of ‘Company P.O.P’ ought to do the trick; putting the group’s mature, sobering political observations below a magnifying glass, the file seems like Manchester’s reply to ‘American Fool’. It’s a whirlwind of sturdy rock, rave-ready synthetics and rambunctiously British quips, trudging by means of the grit of actuality and forcing you to take observe.
“Whether or not it was an enormous rock music or an offended punk monitor, we wished the sound to be as uncooked as potential,” Jim explains. “The whole lot was recorded analogue, as a result of we wished it to really feel like one in all our stay reveals.”
In Han’s thoughts, the uncooked, stay high quality ought to assist lure within the plenty. “This file could be a rally level for individuals,” she says. “That is our mouthpiece, it’s our megaphone. We actually wrote for the stay present – I feel that’s the place the guts of Scorching Milk lies – and I can’t wait to see how individuals reply at reveals. Hopefully it provides the others the flexibility to need to choose up a megaphone as effectively. We simply need individuals to free their minds and take into consideration issues in a extra essential means.”
THE LYRICS
Whereas ‘Company P.O.P’ amps up Scorching Milk’s political agenda, frontwoman Han’s fury has been brewing since her teen years. Weaned on the likes of The Replacements, Lifeless Kennedys, and Unhealthy Faith, the daring, outspoken Mancunian has been gearing up for a file like ‘Company P.O.P’ all her life. “It feels pure for us to do that – I grew up on political punk music, it’s a part of my DNA,” she says. “I went to college and studied politics due to the music I grew up with – it was about time we wrote a file that regarded extra outwards.”
All through ‘Company P.O.P’, Scorching Milk drop verbal grenades then run for canopy. From ‘The American Machine’s commentary on corrupt pharmaceutical corporations that revenue off of perpetuating illness, to ‘INSUBORDINATE INGERLAND’’s jeering footie chants mourning the downfall of “Grave Britain”, the file desires to get individuals pondering. “Generally it seems like essential pondering abilities are at an all time low,” Han explains. “With the file, we’re making an attempt to touch upon it in a tongue-in-cheek means. I simply need to deliver some points to the desk, spark a dialog.”
It’s a sentiment she even coyly voices on ‘INSUBORDINATE INGERLAND’; “Hear proper, it’s a social commentary – settle down!” she sighs. Han follows it up with a cocksure proclamation of, “come and have a go if you happen to assume you’re ‘ard sufficient!”, but it surely’s a bravado she hopes individuals take with a pinch of salt. Basically, don’t shoot the messenger – it’s not her fault England is fucked.
Although, England does have one factor going for it – at the very least it isn’t America. “I’m a bit anxious about how Individuals may reply to ‘The American Machine’,” Han says, nervousness drenching her tone. “I hope individuals know I’m talking in regards to the authorities, not Individuals. I’m fairly scared about not getting let into the nation once more… Y’know, if you happen to say sure issues about Trump on Twitter, it may well trigger issues. However it’s an vital music, as a result of we’re commenting on an excellent capitalist society – they put revenue over well being. I hope it doesn’t grow to be like that over right here.”
“I’ve been to locations like Portland, Oregon, and it actually does put it into perspective,” she continues. “They’ve let the homelessness scenario will get so out of hand – they’ve put water fountains on the street in order that when it will get actually scorching, the homeless don’t die of dehydration. It seems like a means of avoiding having to mop up useless our bodies. And so they haven’t any security internet for individuals… individuals shit on England’s Common Credit score system, however at the very least we have now it. It’s the explanation why our nation nonetheless has a stage of peacefulness and security, I feel.”
“We’ve seen all that occurred below Tory ruling, with individuals making an attempt to siphon off issues and privatise every part,” Jim chimes in. “It doesn’t work. Individuals must be watching America, learning it, and realising we must always not observe in its footsteps.”
‘Company P.O.P’ additionally assesses the harm brought on by the web, with the results of data overload already starting to influence society’s notion of actuality. “The pillars of ‘reality’ have gone fully,” Han mourns. “Whereas it’s nice that we will hear from all sides, it’s getting to a degree the place there may be a lot info it’s tough to determine the place the reality lies. It’s getting tougher to be goal as a result of some info isn’t even actual; Generally I communicate to my mum, and she or he’ll be like “Have you ever seen that video?” And I’m like, Mum, that’s totally an AI video, it’s not true.”
Alongside false articles and digitally rendered movies muddying the waters of reality, the file’s opening monitor additionally notes how our “Demise is televised” at each flip. ‘The American Machine’ additional cements the concept, noting how we “Watch [people] endure on tiny screens”; every part is filmed and put on-line these days, and it’s resulted in a complete “Lack of compassion”, Jim argues. “You have a look at your cellphone, see probably the most terrible factor you may probably think about, then get on along with your day,” he says. “Everyone seems to be desensitised.”
THE ARTWORK & TITLE
As ‘Swallow This’ unravels with a thump of rousing EDM and slick riffs, the monitor focuses on how the media and authorities “inject” ideas into the plenty, forcing individuals to “swallow” down info designed to maintain them satiated and desensitised. This notion is foundational to ‘Company P.O.P’, with the album title implying that the consumption of company lies is as widespread and customary as consuming faucet water.
“Company pop is what my granddad used to name water from the faucet,” Han explains. “So it’s this company factor that is available in and infects everybody’s households. P.O.P additionally stands for ‘Fee of Ache’, as a result of it seems like every part in life comes with this obligatory fee of ache… so we’re additionally saying ache has grow to be as widespread as water.”
After all, that doesn’t imply this can be a ‘pop’ file. Once more, Scorching Milk are placing a large berth between their pop and punk sides – but it surely’s one thing their label was initially fairly unsure about. “They didn’t just like the title, and the entire file is form of the antithesis of what they anticipated from us,” Han laughs. “So I assume that’s an additional layer to the title, as a result of we wrote what we wished as a substitute of what an organization anticipated from us. We don’t bend to tendencies, it’s simply us artistically expressing our issues.”
Scorching Milk’s staff had been additionally cautious in regards to the file’s art work – a shot in an ominously darkish alleyway, the only supply of sunshine being a completely ablaze wheelie bin. The scene is topped off with an English flag, hanging out of the highest, the pink and white of the Saint George’s cross scorched by flames. As Han places it, it’s basically commenting on how England is within the bin, and it’s as much as us to vary that. “We’re not saying we’re going to burn all flags or something,” Han laughs. “Simply stating that there’s one thing unsuitable right here – let’s repair it!”
Shot in a again alley close to Jim’s residence in Manchester, the unique plan was simply to {photograph} a burning bin. The flag was a last-minute addition – but it surely was a stroke of destiny, completely and poignantly capturing the which means of the file. “I attempted to take just a few photographs, they didn’t actually come out proper,” she says. “So, I scanned across the alley, and I assumed ‘let’s put this England flag within the bin’. It felt proper – like commenting on nationalism in a means that’s thought frightening.”
THE FUTURE
One other means Scorching Milk had been capable of deal with English nationalism got here within the type of a collaboration with Frank Skinner. Whereas Jim is fast to insist Skinner is a “beautiful chap”, the comic starred within the video for ‘90 Seconds To Midnight’, embodying the “archetypal British man” brainwashed by dystopian ranges of company management and governmental lies. As Skinner walks round in a daze, he’s blind to the truth of an impending doomsday – and, contemplating he helped write a music typically related to nationwide delight, the soccer anthem ‘Three Lions’, the function was suitably ironic.
Skinner’s function sees him wandering by means of the streets of Manchester earlier than gorging down a full English in a greasy spoon. And he was completely happy to offer his companies. “He got here and spoke to us after our set at 2000trees, and we obtained chatting for ages,” Jim remembers. “He instructed us he cherished our music, and his son cherished us. Once we had been planning our music video, he was an ideal match. We had been pondering ‘He’s by no means gonna fucking do it…’ however, two days after we despatched him an e-mail, he mentioned he’d do it if we purchased him fish and chips and coated his prepare fare.”
Shifting ahead, Han, Jim and the Scorching Milk gang are hoping that ‘Company P.O.P’ encourages individuals to take motion, earlier than its too late. “This album is simply every part I’m frightened of,” Han admits. “Like, ‘Hell Is On Its Means’, it’s about oncoming nuclear, and ‘90 Seconds to Midnight’ is comparable, basically saying that it’s a ticking timebomb at the start simply explodes.”
“We simply need individuals to free their thoughts a little bit bit, take into consideration issues in a extra essential means,” she continues. Jim nods in settlement, including, “I would like individuals to hearken to it and grow to be extra ahead pondering, much less insular. If it modifications even one individual’s opinion, then that’s nice.”
Regardless of the devastating realities we’ve been dissecting, Han does observe one supply of “English delight” that has by no means let her down. “Don’t get me unsuitable, I do like listening to individuals who have completely ridiculous opinions generally,” she chuckles. “In ‘90 Seconds To Midnight’, there’s a lyric: ‘Three pints down, and I guess you assume you’re Rousseau.’ That’s probably the greatest issues about English pubs – speaking to a great deal of previous blokes that assume they’re new-age philosophers. They’ve all obtained their fully unsuitable opinions, and I really like listening to them.”
Earlier than we half methods, Han has a remaining instruction for anybody tucking into their new file: “Hear, have a bev, and open your eyes.”
