On ‘Cutthroat,’ South London band Shame thrives in moral ambiguity

You might blast your favorite album to escape the stress of daily life as a form of catharsis. You can certainly do that with Cutthroat, the latest album from U.K. band Shame.

But there’s more to it than that. Today on the show, Shame frontman Charlie Steen talks about music not just as an escape from discomfort, but as an escape into a feeling of belonging. It’s something he especially needed in his teenage years when the band began.

He also discusses the band’s new John Congleton-produced album, which embraces a more direct, stripped-down approach than its previous work and leans into storytelling and character.

Plus, Shame performs live.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.