I Plead Irony make ten years of chaos worth the wait on new album 'This Monologue Conversation'

Ten years is a long time to spend finishing an album, but 'This Monologue Conversation' sounds like I Plead Irony had very good reason not to let it disappear. After distance, changing lives, the pandemic and years of unfinished details, the trio finally emerge with a third record that feels huge in both scope and conviction.

Rauf Jordan, Paul McDonald and Lawrence Arnold have been making music together in various forms for more than two decades, and that shared history crackles through these eleven tracks. Their blend of alternative rock, punk and blues feels muscular and instinctive, driven by the chemistry of three musicians who know exactly when to push, when to pull back and when a song has finally found its shape.

‘Inside the Lines’ began as a song about personal limitations, but years later its themes of conformity, boundaries and freedom suddenly felt connected to a much wider world. While ‘History’ is even more unsettling, wrestling with humanity’s tendency to mistake progress for permanence.

But the brilliance of 'This Monologue Conversation' is that it never buckles beneath those ideas. There's wit here, energy and the unmistakable sound of three friends still enjoying the act of making noise together. The record may deal with fear, ego, anxiety and self-destruction, but it remains alive with movement.

By the time ‘Falling Upwards’ arrives, that momentum takes on a new meaning. The final song introduces a glimmer of hope without suddenly pretending everything has been solved. Instead, love and connection provide the lift, turning one final contradiction into the album’s most affecting image.

Even the title fits perfectly alongside previous records 'This Statement Is False' and 'The Solution Is The Problem', extending I Plead Irony’s fascination with paradox into something that feels almost autobiographical.

Ambitious, restless and packed with personality, 'This Monologue Conversation' is the sound of a band rediscovering why these songs mattered in the first place and making their difficult third album absolutely worth the wait.