Don't Tell the Dog
| Don't Tell the Dog | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 13 June 2025 | |||
| Recorded | July 2024[1] | |||
| Studio | Big Jelly (Ramsgate)[1] | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 34:39 | |||
| Label | AWAL[3] | |||
| Producers |
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| James Marriott chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Don't Tell the Dog | ||||
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Don't Tell the Dog is the second studio album by English indie rock musician James Marriott. Recorded in mid-2024, the album discussed childhood loss, breakups, anxiety, and unprocessed guilt. It featured the singles "I Don't Want to Live Like This", "Toothache", "It's Only Love", and "Something's Wrong". The album charted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. It also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart and the Official Record Store Chart.
Recording and production
Marriott's previous album Are We There Yet? had peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart in 2023. He wrote his second album over the course of the following year[2] while undergoing psychotherapy[3] and had recorded it by July 2024 over three weeks at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate. In an interview with Dork, he stated how he "wanted to take [the album] in a direction that was a little bit less indie-rock and more indie-pop" as he felt that parts of Are We There Yet? were slightly self-indulgent.[2]
The various songs on the album had various methods of creation. One track sampled the squeaks of a nearby playground slide.[2] "Plasticine" discussed his childhood hobby of making claymation models to process his loneliness, and had been considered for single release.[3] "Toothache" had been written in the green room at Chalk in Brighton before Marriott's show that night. "I have this little snippet of it called 'phones on 1%'" he stated, "because I had a lyric, 'my phone was on 1%', which didn't make it, but the end of the song in that rough recording hasn't really changed since. That's always a good sign."[2][4] "Limbs", the eleventh and final track on the album, had been purposefully left unfinished to evoke being broken.
Themes
Don't Tell the Dog contains various references to childhood loss, breakups, and unprocessed guilt, and Marriott used the writing process to vocalize feelings he had been unable to process during therapy.[3] The album's title took its name from an incident involving a childhood move in which his dog Jasper had been left behind.[3] The cover featured a clay model of Jasper.[2]
In an interview with Brig News, Marriott described the emotions that had driven his album, and how they manifested in his lyrics. "It feels like there is an intrinsic part of my brain that has always been built towards making other people feel emotions and how important that is for me," he stated. "['How Could I Say No'] is quite specifically about, how could I be a person that has that feeling and the fear of losing that. What if I get to a point where I can’t do that anymore? What if the negative side of it outweighs that at some point? I feel like I would feel incredibly lost. That song is about how no matter how bad it can be in the public eye, where you see every flaw you have, and every little feeling you have about yourself when you look in the mirror being amplified by people, how could I ever say no to this opportunity?"[5]
Release and reception
Commercial performance
The album's lead single, "I Don't Want to Live Like This",[2] charted at No. 67 on the UK singles chart[6] and No. 1 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. He released the grunge track, "Toothache", as the album's second single in March 2025.[7] He released a third single in May 2025, the indie folk track "It's Only Love", which was accompanied by a folk horror–inspired video featuring an axe throwing Marriott bringing scarecrow couples to life. He picked the track as a single to represent the second half of the album.[8] "Something's Wrong" entered the UK singles chart update at No. 97.[6]
Don't Tell the Dog was released on 13 June 2025.[9] and charted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart,[10] beating albums by Sabrina Carpenter and Oasis.[11][12] It also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart and the Official Record Store Chart.[10] The album was promoted with a string of in-store appearances.
Critical reception
Max Gayler from The Line of Best Fit wrote that the album "splits like a vinyl record: Side A filled with narrative vignettes, Side B drifting into uncertainty".[3] Gayler was struck by how deeply Marriott was willing to excavate and described the album as "jagged, unvarnished, and quietly devastating".[3] The Official Charts Company described the album as "playful yet profound" and "anchored by Marriott's signature introspective lyricism and theatrical flair", and wrote that its blue dog artwork was "a symbol of the album's balance between personal chaos and creative clarity".[9]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Aleksi Kiiskinen, James Marriott, and Jono Suter, with additional writers noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ventriloquist" |
| 2:50 |
| 2. | "Something's Wrong" |
| 3:20 |
| 3. | "Plasticine" |
| 3:02 |
| 4. | "It's Only Love" |
| 3:31 |
| 5. | "Food Poisoning" |
| 3:05 |
| 6. | "Toothache" |
| 3:17 |
| 7. | "I Don't Want to Live Like This" |
| 2:54 |
| 8. | "How Could I Say No?" |
| 3:30 |
| 9. | "Pillow Fight" |
| 3:00 |
| 10. | "Why Don't You Kill Me?" |
| 2:40 |
| 11. | "Limbs" |
| 3:24 |
| Total length: | 34:39 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Staring at the Sun" | 3:27 |
| 13. | "Don't Tell the Dog" | 3:15 |
| 14. | "Best Friend" | 2:54 |
| 15. | "Wish You Were There" | 2:36 |
| 16. | "Can I See You" | 1:58 |
| 17. | "Ventriloquist" (demo) | 3:06 |
| 18. | "Something's Wrong" (demo) | 3:03 |
| 19. | "Plasticine" (demo) | 1:19 |
| 20. | "It's Only Love" (demo) | 3:43 |
| 21. | "Food Poisoning" (demo) | 2:52 |
| 22. | "Toothache" (demo) | 3:27 |
| 23. | "I Don't Want to Live Like This" (demo) | 0:37 |
| 24. | "How Could I Say No?" (demo) | 3:43 |
| 25. | "Pillow Fight" (demo) | 2:43 |
| 26. | "Why Don't You Kill Me?" (demo) | 2:35 |
| 27. | "Limbs" (demo) | 2:48 |
Notes
- Tracks 13–16 are subtitled "(Scrapped)"
Personnel
Standard edition credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[1]
Marriott Band
- James Marriott – lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, production; synthesised elements, programming (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 10)
- Jono Suter – production (all tracks), backing vocals (1–3, 6, 7, 10); synthesised elements, programming (1, 6, 7, 10); organ (2, 8), piano (3, 7), keyboard (4)
- Matt Gavin – guitar (1–9)
- Louis Salanson – recording assistance (all tracks), backing vocals (3, 6, 7), drums (11)
- Samuel Horsley – bass guitar (all tracks), backing vocals (6, 7)
Other personnel
- Aleksi Kiiskinen – percussion, synthesised elements, programming, production, engineering (all tracks); slide (2), backing vocals (5–7), drums (11)
- Jesse Vainio – mixing
- Matias Koskimies – mixing assistance
- Svante Forsbäck – mastering
- Eeli Savolainen – drums, engineering (2–11); production (2–7, 9–11)
- Sevina Lee – backing vocals (3, 6, 7)
- Sam McMahon – backing vocals (3)
- Kieran Shudall – synthesised elements, programming (3)
- Ossi Maristo – guitar (4), lap steel (11)
- Jere Särkkä – synthesised elements, programming (10)
- Rhianna Berthoud – illustration, clay artwork
Charts
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 80 |
| Irish Albums (Official Charts)[14] | 27 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts)[15] | 1 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts)[16] | 1 |
| UK Independent Albums (Official Charts)[17] | 1 |
References
- 1 2 3 Don't Tell the Dog (Media notes). James Marriott. AWAL. 13 June 2025.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Firth, Abigail (19 March 2025). "Race cars and recording studios: James Marriott's unconventional path to pop stardom". Dork. Archived from the original on 5 April 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gaylor, Max (16 June 2025). "James Marriott: "I was trying to reinterpret attachment theory through the lens of my childhood"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ Wilson-Taylor, James (20 March 2025). "James Marriott Shares New Single 'Toothache'". Rock Sound. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ Lloyd, Kerry (5 November 2025). "Interview: Singer James Marriott on YouTube, Touring, and Glasgow". Brig News. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - 1 2 "JAMES MARRIOTT". Official Charts. 13 February 2025. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ "James Marriott visits a dodgy dentist in his new video for 'Toothache'". Dork. 20 March 2025. Archived from the original on 23 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ "James Marriott has released his melancholic new single 'It's Only Love', from second album 'Don't Tell The Dog'". Dork. 16 May 2025. Archived from the original on 23 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- 1 2 "DON'T TELL THE DOG". Official Charts. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- 1 2 "James Marriott celebrates first Number 1 album with Don't Tell The Dog". Official Charts. 20 June 2025. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ Smith, Thomas (20 June 2025). "James Marriott Bests Oasis & Sabrina Carpenter for His First U.K. No. 1 Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ↑ Panons, Jacob (27 June 2025). "Influencer musician celebrates topping the album chart". BBC News. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – James Marriott – Don't Tell the Dog" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
- ↑ "Official Irish Albums Chart on 20/6/2025 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 20/6/2025 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ↑ "Official Albums Chart on 20/6/2025 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart on 20/6/2025 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 June 2025.