Garbage’s new record, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, lands like a neon sign in a blacked-out alley. It’s the shimmering twin to No Gods No Masters — less rage, more resilience. “They’re sort of twin records,” Shirley Manson says, “coming at the same thing from completely different angles. I realized if I didn’t change my tack I was going to lose my mind.”
No easy feat for someone who’s been bedbound more than once in the past few years — two hip replacements, grief, and the existential ache of watching the world swirl the drain. “I felt like the stuffing had been knocked out of me,” she admits. But there’s no self-pity here, only a healthy dose of profanity. “I had to employ patience, which I’ve never done in my life. I ended up rolling around Beverly Hills doctor’s offices in my sweatpants and a Zimmer frame feeling defeated and old and fragile. And yeah, I felt some deep, deep shame — which is so perverse.”
Blame society for that bit. “We’re taught it’s shameful to be broken,” she says, with the casual wisdom of someone who’s shredded more microphones than most people have opinions. “What nonsense. We’re all vulnerable.”
So how does a rock icon keep the engine running when everything feels apocalyptic? “I care. I really do actually care,” she says, half laughing at herself. “I’m one of these really old-fashioned, uncool, clichéd characters that wants to see our communities thrive. I want people to be happy. I don’t want to see suffering.”
If that sounds soft, don’t worry. This is still the woman who’ll call out world leaders, cancel culture, and the “angry adolescent boys” who think they’re fit to run a country. “It really does feel like we’re dealing with an administration run by angry adolescent boys,” she says, unimpressed by a certain small-fingered demagogue threatening to bar Springsteen from reentering the country.
She still swears like a Glaswegian sailor and will defend your right to do the same. “If you swear, you’re vulgar and disgusting? What nonsense,” she scoffs. “How about we just respect one another and want the same things for each other that we want for ourselves?”
In the end, Shirley Manson isn’t here for your approval — but she does want your hope. “This record is ultimately about resilience, resistance, and hope. It’s imbued with love,” she says. “Be the change you want to see. I want to be that change.”
Cue the lights. Cue the cursing. Long may she reign.
Check out the full interview above and then the video below.
