Recommended tracks: ““Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty,” “Radical,” “Hold”
Formed in 1993, Garbage—fronted by Shirley Manson and backed by the American trio of Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker—became grunge icons in the 1990s with a genre-defying blend of grunge, electronic and pop. Their self-titled 1995 debut introduced anthems like “Only Happy When It Rains” and “Stupid Girl.”
Three decades later, Garbage returns with Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, their eighth studio album and first since 2021’s No Gods No Masters. The wait was prolonged by an unexpected tour-ending injury Manson suffered last August—yet this setback only seemed to energize the band.
Abandoning some of the darker tones of their recent releases, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light emerges as a more uplifting, forward-looking collection. Manson called the album a “strategy for survival.” Opening with the hypnotic “There’s No Future in Optimism,” Manson’s piercing chant—“If you’re ready for love”—threads through fractured beats and eerie atmospherics. Lyrically, it’s an anthem of radical imagination in the face of collapse: “There is no future that can’t be designed / With some imagination and a beautiful mind.”
Garbage has never shied from confrontation—whether personal, political or cultural—and it shows on “Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty.” This snarling punk-electro banger feels like vintage Garbage filtered through a 2025 lens. “You hold the power, but we hold the feeling,” Manson sneers, spitting defiance at anyone who still underestimates them. It’s no coincidence that Manson, often a target of sexist double standards, clapped back in April this year at media scrutiny over her appearance, reminding the world, “I will always and forever rock HARDER than most.” This track, a standout on the album, effortlessly echoes that spirit.
The album’s middle stretch blends electro-grunge textures with poetic force. “Chinese Fire Horse” delivers a bouncy, almost whimsical backdrop, made mesmerizing by Manson’s vocals and sharp guitars. “Have We Met (The Void),” meanwhile, stands as comfortably dark and a little dangerous, its repeating mantra, “I’ve come all this way,” dripping with eerie intensity. It’s a story of love and deception, unsettling in all the right ways.
“Radical” opens with a dirty, sludgy riff before unfolding into one of the arguably most memorable tracks lyrically on the album. “Grief is love turned inside out,” Manson sings, her voice both raw and ethereal. The album’s title is repeated like a mantra: “Let all that we imagine be the light” to close the song.
With a distorted vocal layering and a near-danceable rhythm, “Love to Give” delivers one of the record’s most effective messages: in a cynical world, to love is a radical act. “This is a cold, cold world,” Manson intones, “but we’ve still got love to give.” Then comes “R U Happy Now,” another one of the more lyrically searing moments on the album. It’s a bold, bitter dissection of modern disillusionment: “Make no mistake, friend / They hate your women / They rob your children / And they love their guns.”
“Sisyphus” takes a more metaphorical route, reimagining the Greek myth with modern weariness and determination. “I’m stuck at the bottom of everything and I’m looking up,” Manson admits, before proclaiming: “This little body of mine is gonna make things right.”
“Hold,” nostalgic of Garbage’s ‘90s roots with reverence, also stands out significantly. “You call it fear, I call it sadness,” Manson sings through compressed, gritty distortion. It’s a rallying cry for a generation lost in grief and rage—a standout track that feels tailor-made for the times.
Closing track “The Day That I Met God” is everything a finale should be: dark, distorted and unflinchingly emotional. With lyrics like “I tried to say my name, but nothing would come out,” the song pulses with static and silence, building toward a finish that feels like a proper conclusion. It’s a quiet, haunting end to an album that otherwise roars.
Let All That We Imagine Be the Light is not just a comeback; it’s a reassertion of everything Garbage stands for—fearlessness, innovation and heart. Recorded at Red Razor Sounds, Butch Vig’s Grunge Is Dead studio, and Manson’s own bedroom, it’s intimate, expansive and deeply human.
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