Camens come back swinging on new single ‘Anything to Win’

Camens sound noticeably less interested in playing it safe on ‘Anything to Win’. The first single from forthcoming second album 'LOS KARMA' takes the Stoke-on-Trent quartet beyond the northern indie framework of their debut LP and into something darker, heavier and more cinematic.

There's still plenty of melodic immediacy here, but the guitars carry more weight and the whole track has a broader, dustier feel. The influence of Queens of the Stone Age and the Josh Homme-era Arctic Monkeys is easy to hear in the swagger and low-slung tension, yet the band use those references as a way to toughen their own sound rather than disappear into someone else’s.

Lyrically, the song tackles the less glamorous side of life in a band: such as being overlooked, losing opportunities and finding the resolve to keep moving regardless. It's a subject that could easily have turned into self-pity, but ‘Anything to Win’ has too much momentum for that. The frustration is converted into defiance, giving the track the feel of a band drawing a line under one chapter and pushing firmly into the next.

Following a debut album that reached the UK Top 10, Camens could have been forgiven for simply refining what already worked. Instead, they appear more interested in widening the frame for their sophomore outing.

There's also a satisfying connection between the song’s message and the circumstances surrounding the album itself. Lost funding, disrupted plans and a difficult recording process all feed naturally into a record centred on perseverance and escape.

‘Anything to Win’ feels sharper because of that lived-in tension. It's big without becoming overblown, gritty without losing its hooks, and confident enough to suggest that Camens are entering their second album with a much clearer sense of what they want to become.