Prepare for an autumn of profound reflection as Placebo announce the release of This Search For Meaning — an ambitious four-disc collection poised to arrive on September 12th via SO Recordings promising an excavation of the band’s creative psyche.
Housed in an elegant six-panel digipak, This Search For Meaning unites the acclaimed eponymous documentary—presented on both Blu-ray and DVD—with two audio discs capturing This Is What You Wanted – Live in Mexico City, a thunderous set recorded last year in front of 20,000 fervent fans at Palacio de los Deportes.
For those whose curiosity extends far beyond the familiar, the collection also offers an expanded edition of Never Let Me Go, packing previously unreleased material, including the band’s brooding reimagining of Tears For Fears’ “Shout.” Completing the set is a fold-out poster booklet you’ll definitely want framed.
Helmed by Scottish filmmaker Oscar Sansom, This Search For Meaning takes an unflinching look at the themes that have haunted, inspired, and elevated Placebo since the ‘90s. It moves seamlessly from intimate interviews with Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal to candid reflections by an eclectic constellation of fellow artists – Shirley Manson, Yungblud, Robbie Williams, Self Esteem’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor, Joe Talbot of IDLES, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, and artist Stuart Semple.
In true Placebo fashion, the documentary doesn’t shy away from the shadows: you’ll find rare footage from their decades-long career, including glimpses of their artistic kinship with David Bowie. And there’s a meta twist: much of the live performance footage was captured at Twickenham Film Studios, the very spot where the Beatles pieced together Let It Be in Peter Jackson’s Get Back.
The live discs — This Is What You Wanted — pack all the punch of Placebo’s contemporary sets: “Beautiful James,” “The Bitter End,” “Surrounded By Spies,” plus their cathartic takes on “Running Up That Hill” and “Shout.”
Whether you’ve been on the Placebo bandwagon since the Nancy Boy era or only just discovered Never Let Me Go, this box set offers something essential: an unvarnished, human story about art, survival, and the search to make sense of it all.
This Search For Meaning releases this September 12th, 2025 and pre-orders are now live here.
Placebo – This Is What You Wanted – Live In Mexico City tracklisting
1. Opening Titles
2. Forever Chemicals
3. Beautiful James
4. Scene Of The Crime
5. Hugz
6. Happy Birthday In The Sky
7. Bionic
8. Twin Demons
9. Surrounded By Spies
10. Chemtrails
11. Sad White Reggae
12. Try Better Next Time
13. Too Many Friends
14. Went Missing
15. For What It’s Worth
16. Slave to The Wage
17. Song To Say Goodbye
18. Come Undone
19. The Bitter End
20. Infra-Red
21. Shout
22. Fix Yourself
23. Running Up That Hill
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Featured image courtesy of Mads Perch.
