Manic Street Preachers return to the charts this September with their 14th studio album ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’.
After dropping lead single Orwellian, the group confirmed it will be followed by a brand new LP, out September 3, with the 11 tracks described as a “departure” from the band’s previous effort ‘Resistance Is Futile’.
‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’ is described by the group as “a record that gazes in isolation across a cluttered room, fogged by often painful memories, to focus on an open window framing a gleaming vista of land melting into sea and endless sky”.
Recorded at the legendary Rockfield studios as well as their own Door to the River HQ with long-time collaborator Dave Eringa, the album also features guest performances from Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean on The Secret He Had Missed and Mark Lanegan on Blank Diary Entry.
Of lead single Orwellian, the Manics add: “The track is about the battle to claim meaning, the erasing of context within debate, the overriding sense of factional conflict driven by digital platforms leading to a perpetual state of culture war.
“As with many songs on the record, it was written on the piano by James Dean Bradfield.
“Musically, it echoes ABBA, the majesty of Alan Rankine’s playing in The Associates and Talk Talk’s It’s My Life with a Lindsey Buckingham guitar solo. It felt like the perfect sonic and lyrical introduction to ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’.”
‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’, out September 3, is available on Standard and Deluxe CD, and Vinyl.
Manic Street Preachers are set to support the album with a string of tour dates at the end of the year, with pre-sale on offer for those who order the album from the band’s official store before May 19.
Tickets go on general sale on May 21 at 10 am BST. Visit here for tickets and more information.
The full list of tour dates is as follows:
July 16 – Cardiff, Arena (NHS workers show)*
July 17 – Cardiff, Arena (NHS public show)*
July 30 – Pikehall, Y Not Festival*
August 7 – Linlithgow, Party At The Palace*
August 29 – Alcester, Camper Calling Music Festival*
September 10 – Halifax, Live at Piece Hall*
September 18 – Jersey, Electric Park Festival*
September 26 – Newcastle, City Hall
September 28 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
September 29 – Dundee, Caird Hall
October 1 – Stoke On-Trent, Victoria Hall
October 2 – Manchester, Apollo
October 4 – York, Barbican
October 5 – Glasgow, Barrowlands
October 7 – Leeds, Academy
October 8 – Portsmouth, Guildhall
October 10 – Bournemouth, Academy
October 11 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
October 13 – Bath, Forum
October 14 – Bristol, Dome
December 3 – London, Wembley Arena
*previously announced date
