S Poddar
For fans of the Welsh trio Manic Street Preachers, the much-anticipated launch of the band’s new album, Critical Thinking, was scheduled to be on January 31st. However, it appears that there is a need to hold on for just one more week. New promotional posters have confirmed that the album will now be launched on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. The album had already been slated for release on February 7th, which had caused some confusion.
Social media has had mixed reactions to the delay, mainly in the comments section of the band’s Facebook page. “At this rate, it’ll be Christmas before we hear it! ” is one of the quick reactions of some fans, while others are more understanding: “Manics fans can be so negative. Such delays happen in the industry.”. We’re all excited for the new album, but it’s obviously pushed back for a reason, it happens.
Just be supportive rather than moaning,” wrote another fan, emphasizing patience and optimism.
However, the delay on the album will not be entirely bad news to fans: the band will actually release a new single, Brushstrokes of Reunion, on Friday, January 31st – a date when the full album was originally supposed to drop. It is expected to give a foretaste of what is coming when the complete record is eventually released in mid-February. Earlier in this month, the band had teased a little of what’s to be expected with the release of People Ruin Paintings, an euphoric anthem from the forthcoming album. The track immediately became an instant crowd-pleaser, with its scorching instrumentation and frontman James Dean Bradfield’s thought-provoking lyrics.
In the song, he reflects on the destruction of truth, singing, “People ruin paintings, faces for the view / People destroy the truth.” These words resonate deeply in today’s world, filled with misinformation and the destruction of historical narratives.
Describing Critical Thinking, the band says the album is the collision of opposites, a record by which different perspectives try to find their path to resolution. The music is energizing and, sometimes euphoric-a reflection of the ability of the band to juxtapose contrasting themes and sounds to create something unique. Much of the album, according to James Dean Bradfield in an interview, centers on the cold, analytical self-examination of personal identity.
As he goes on to clarify, “The music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, but most of the lyrics deal with the cold analysis of the self, the exception being the three lyrics by James [Dean Bradfield], which look for and hopefully find answers in people, their memories, language, and beliefs.” It is, in fact a reflective journey to both the personal and collective psyche as the band tries to seek better understanding for the complexities of human existence. Wire, the bassist of the band, elaborated on the dual nature of the record: *”While the music is energised and at times euphoric, recording could sometimes be sporadic and isolated. At other times, we played live in a band setting, again the opposites making sense with each other. There are crises at the heart of these songs.”.
They are microcosms of skepticism and suspicion, the drive to the internal seems inevitable – start with yourself, maybe the rest will follow.”* The fact that the band merged different recording methods, from isolated sessions to full-band performances, gives this album a different level, wherein differences between introspection and collaboration find their place through the music. Reflecting on the journey that the band has had together, Wire also commented during this occasion on the deep bond that has been formed over the years. “When you’ve been together this long and know each other this much, it becomes much more about communication through instinct and discovering that natural way of making songs. We have talked ourselves through oblivion, the three of us.”.
I can’t describe it any other way,” he shared with NME, emphasizing the organic creative process that has defined their work for over three decades.
The band’s album Critical Thinking continues on the path blurring political themes with personal material, all told with a raw emotionality which has made it one of the UK’s most respected and long-lasting rock acts. Fans can expect to be challenged by songs that range over everything from how human relationships make things complicated all the way out to the modern world’s conundrums of truth and belief.
The band is due to tour in the UK next April. Always an experience in live shows, with the new album on its way, a lot of expectation is being seen in the fans about what the performances are going to be like. Tickets are still available, and fans can buy any remaining tickets through the band’s official website.
Despite the album being delayed, Critical Thinking promises to be a journey deep into the sounds and words, which are so characteristic of the band, who can deal with complex issues but still do it with the same high-energy performances. Meanwhile, fans have to look forward to Brushstrokes of Reunion and the album, which is going to be well worth the wait.
