Released: 10 September 2021
Manic Street Preachers look back to a world gone by with their latest offering ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’.
The group’s first album in three years marks a sonic shift, influenced not only by the current global climate, but also the personal experiences of the band.
In the time between 2018 LP ‘Resistance is Futile’ and the onset of Covid-19, songwriter Nicky Wire lost both his mother and father to cancer – the grief of which is felt throughout the collection.
‘I had a very bad dream / The lead actor in it was me’ sings James Dean Bradfield on the aptly-titled Quest for Ancient Colour; one of many tracks about overcoming adversity and longing for days gone by.
It’s as much a reference to the group’s storied history as it is their recent experiences.
Eerie opener Still Snowing In Sapporo looks to the group’s early-’90s tour of Japan and a time when it was ‘the four of us against the world’ – recalling guitarist Richey Edwards, who has been missing since 1995.
Time is a central theme throughout ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’, juxtaposing real life struggles with classic, melancholic pop music in the vein of ABBA and The Carpenters.
Single Orwellian, the most commercial track in the set, examines modern society through the lens of nostalgia, while Into The Waves of Love masks themes of angst and anxiety with radio-friendly, adult contemporary guitar and piano.
The Secret He Had Missed – a duet with Sunflower Bean’s Julia Cumming – addresses personal regrets: ‘If only we could meet again / We could find a different end’.
‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’ is a brave move from the Welsh rockers and, while longtime fans might be thrown-off by their venture into pop territory, it’s a risk that pays off three decades into their career.
‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’ is available on standard and deluxe CD, and vinyl.
