# Let All That We Imagine Be the Light

Let All That We Imagine Be the Light is the upcoming eighth studio album by American rock band Garbage, set to be released on May 30, 2025 through BMG. It represents a shift in themes compared to the band's previous record, being less socio-political and more optimistic.

## Background

In July 2022, vocalist Shirley Manson said Garbage had started writing for the follow-up album to No Gods No Masters earlier in the year. The album's recording and production would be subsequently halted by two tours and marked by personal incidents, like Manson's hip replacement surgeries, writer's block and the death of her dog Veela. Over the next two years, several deadlines were missed and the album's release would eventually be pushed back to 2025, from an initial plan to finish it by spring 2023. During the album's recording, the band released two EPs: Witness to Your Love in 2023 and Lie to Me in 2024.
The album was conceived during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Congo-Rwanda conflict, and recorded during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite initial intentions to record the album with "a clean slate" and avoid socio-political subjects, Butch Vig stated it was inevitable for societal and political topics to start influencing the album.
Garbage made multiple references to the album title, beginning with an Instagram story on November 18, 2024, which teased "Let all that we imagine / Be the light." A post with the hashtag #letallthatweimaginebethelight followed on November 26. Two further posts referring to the album title were made on December 31, 2024, and January 1, 2025, respectively.
The album was finally announced on February 27, 2025. Manson said the title "is the perfect descriptor for this new record as a whole. When things feel dark it feels imperative to seek out forces that are light, positive and beautiful in the world. It almost feels like a matter of life and death. A strategy for survival."

## Recording and production

Recording for the album began after the band's performance at the Hollywood Bowl for Audacy's 9th annual We Can Survive on October 22, 2022. The album was recorded at sound engineer Billy Bush's Red Razor studio in Atwater Village, in drummer's Butch Vig's GrungeIsDead studio in Los Angeles and in Manson's bedroom. Bush would record the band jamming and then the band would proceed into editing down the long jam sessions into songs. Vig explained, "we sort of take those jams and we'll start to edit them down into what we think is, 'this part's cool here', 'I really like what Shirley sang here'. We'll take the 20 minute jam and edit it down to like four or five minutes and try to distill a song out of that."
In January 2023, Manson underwent hip replacement surgery, whilst the rest of the band continued to work on the album. The operation and subsequent rehabilitation left her unable to work with the band for two months due to writer's block. She resumed writing for the album in March of the same year. During her recovery, she wrote and recorded the vocals for the song "The Day That I Met God" in her bedroom.
On February 13, Garbage announced their summer 2023 co-headline North American tour with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds featuring Metric as special guests. The same week, Vig affirmed the plan was to finish the album by June 1. In June, inbetween rehearsals for the tour, Vig told Nick D'Virgilio the album was still in the works, with 15 or 16 work-in-progress songs, which are "quite varied - some are very Garbage-esque sounding as usual, some are quite strange, but I think those are the ones that we like the most." Vig added the band hoped to finish the album in the fall, with a spring 2024 release. In an interview by Scott Lipps on the Lipps Service podcast, Vig admitted a couple songs on the album were inspired by socio-political themes. "A couple songs sound like Pink Floyd on the new record and some are strange pop songs - they're really hooky but sort of strangely constructed in a way. It's hard to tell with a Garbage record until we mix it 'cause a lot of the songs get final focus when we decide what to leave in or leave out of the mix", he added.
In September, Garbage performed three more shows in Latin America and in December they performed at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, their last date of 2023. When interviewed by Megan Holiday, guitarist Duke Erikson said the band was still in the recording process. In an Instagram post, Manson affirmed the band would reconvene on January 22 to "start nailing down our 8th studio album before we hit the road again later in the year". On January 27, Manson said she recorded the first complete vocal for a song on the album and guitarist Steve Marker added Glamour Box effects on it. On February 23, Garbage posted an Instagram video where Duke plays an Otamatone with the caption "we are serious musicians on the long road of creativity and discovery." The same day, an Instagram story was posted with a studio board where work-in-progress track titles could be discerned, such as "R U Happy Now", "Have We Met (The Void)", "Sisyphus" and "The Day That I Met God". On February 28, in another story the title "Sober & Sorry" could be spotted on the board.
In April, Manson told NME that the band was on track to complete the album by the end of May. After a series of updates on social media, on May 25, Manson wrote on Instagram that the band "had a deadline which we failed to meet", suggesting that the band wasn't able to finish the album by the end of the month, whilst also adding that they had just completed a song that had been left unfinished for a year. In June, Manson affirmed recording for the album was finished and just needed to get mixed, with a possible release date slated for summer or second half of 2025.
In July, Vig affirmed the band had plans to start mixing the album in September and release it in April 2025. In August, Garbage were forced to cancel all their shows for the remainder of the year due to an injury sustained by Manson. Therefore, they prioritized finishing the album. On November 7, Manson announced that the band had just finished mixing the album. Two days later, another post followed: "Yesterday I sat down to listen to our new record from start to finish [...] And was overwhelmed with nothing but gratitude. [...] we so look forward to sharing our most current work with you all very soon."

## Composition and style
### Lyrics

Manson said the album would represent a shift compared to the band's previous effort, being less socio-political, abrasive and aggressive, and more optimistic: "As a society, we’ve become so beaten down and broken-hearted. I’m trying to reach for something that’s a little bigger than me, because if I don’t then I’m going to drown in my own dismay", adding "It’s a searchlight, this record. After scorching the earth, we’re coming out of a filthy cave with a searchlight. We’re looking for shards of life and humanity," she told NME. She echoed this sentiment in the album's press release, saying that the idea behind the making of this record was "that when things feel dark, it’s best to try to seek out that which is light, that which feels loving and good." Manson clarified that while the record conveys an optimistic feeling, it is set against a backdrop of "horror and chaos" and explained that darkness is a constant in Garbage's music.
The hopeful nature of the record was inspired by incidents that Manson experienced during the making of the album: in January 2023 she underwent hip surgery to recover from damage she suffered after a fall on stage in 2016, and in August of the same year her dog Veela died, an event she conceded "literally ruined my life". During the making of the album, Manson also worked to keep a positive mindset amid all that was unfolding in the world, saying what she witnesses daily on her social feeds "feels demonic" and that "we all need to fight to not let our hearts become ice-cold".
Manson insisted "There's No Future In Optimism" be the opening track of the album. "It starts out with an anthemic call to arms, a clarion call. It’s pretty much a rallying cry to all likeminded people. If you are interested in meeting this world with love, if you are willing to invest in tenderness and not violence or hate, then we are with you. You should come with us", she added in the album's press release.
Love and mortality are the central themes of album closer "The Day That I Met God", which was described as the "opus on the record" by Manson. The song was conceived during the singer's recovery from hip replacement surgery in 2023. "It's really a song about mortality but it's also an expression of gratitude. Gratitude for getting older, gratitude for the longevity of our band, for good health, for the great mystery and for the ongoing, creative adventure of life", she added.
Mythology, astrology and cultural traditions also serve as backdrop for some of the songs of the album. The title "Sisyphus" refers to the Greek myth of the Corinth king condemned to eternally rolling a massive boulder up a steep hill. "Chinese Fire Horse" refers to a person born in the Year of the Horse under the Fire element in the Chinese zodiac. Born in 1966, Manson is a Fire Horse.

### Music

In an interview with Manchester Evening News, Manson explained the album has "some great pop melodies": “There’s a lot more focus on the vocals and the harmonisations," she added. Vig affirmed the album "pushes out some boundaries but still sounds like us." The album was described as "unmistakably Garbage" in the announcement press release, including "big angular guitars, precise, propulsive beats and cinematic soundscapes".
If the band aimed to avoid socio-political themes in their lyrics, Vig noted that the political climate still influenced production choices, such as using analog synths and sound design to convey "dystopian vibes". Critic Bob Sinclair, noted the album has "a pleasing lo-fi charm", adding the band "dialled down some of the industrial textures to offer some fantastic melody-driven grunge-pop".
Sonic adventurism on the album was also documented on the band's social updates on the record, showing the use of unconventional instruments such as the Otamatone and the Glamour Box. The song "Love to Give" features timpani.
In "The Day That I Met God", the band decided to leave the demo vocals in the final mix to lend the song "added poingancy".

## Release and promotion

The album was officially announced on February 27, with pre-orders available on the band's official store and a new single "coming in the following weeks". The pre-orders included a CD edition, a Pearl Sunrise vinyl edition and a Transparent Neon Orange vinyl edition. Pre-order on the official store offered a signed art print in limited supply. A test pressing of the vinyl edition limited to 100 copies sold out within minutes from the announcement.
Barnes & Noble offered a limited exclusive Transparent Neon Orange vinyl with signed art print. Similarly, Sound of Vinyl bundled the Pearl Sunrise vinyl with the signed art print limited to 300 copies in the UK. Amazon.co.uk offered the CD edition with a signed insert instead.
A short video featuring the animated cover art and the preview of a track was uploaded to the band's socials in conjunction with the announcement.

### Tour

On September 26, 2024, Garbage announced a six-date South American tour in March 2025, with L7 as special guests in Brazil. On October 21, My Chemical Romance announced Garbage will be the special guests on the August 2 date of The Black Parade Tour in Arlington, Texas. Garbage will also join the lineup of Rock en Conce, Cruel World Festival 2025, Pa'l Norte 2025, and Minnesota Yacht Club festival.
Garbage began the rehearsals for the tour on February 24 and will be joined by Nicole Fiorentino on bass.

## Reception

Bob Sinclair wrote a positive review of the album on Super Deluxe Edition after being offered a sneak preview, calling it "a real return to form" and "the group's best collection of songs since the original era."

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Garbage