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We Were Promised Jetpacks, 'Fat Chance'

Whether it's We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Twilight Sad or the late and lamented Frightened Rabbit, the Scottish rock scene is stuffed with bands well-versed in an expert mix of bombast and heavily accented fatalism. At first blush, We Were Promised Jetpacks' new single, "Fat Chance" — from a new album called Enjoy the View, due out in September — seems to operate within that bleak-but-soaring landscape. Yet "Fat Chance" reveals a surprise partway through, emerging as an anthem about overcoming long odds, doing "a complete 180" and climbing out of the ruins, stronger than ever.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)