Manic Street Preachers will release new album ‘Critical Thinking’ on January 31st.
The much-loved Welsh band have a tenacious work ethic, spending summer on the road with Suede. Two revered groups sharing double-billing, the commanding performances underlined the ongoing creative vitality of both parties.
Out on January 31st, ‘Critical Thinking’ adds a new chapter to the Manics’ story. Constructed at the band’s Door To The River Studio and Rockfield, Monmouth, the record was produced by the Welsh group alongside regular collaborators Dave Eringa and Loz Williams and mixed by Caesar Edmunds (St Vincent/Wet Leg).
Available to pre-order now, ‘Critical Thinking’ will be available on LP, CD, hardbook CD and cassette with two brand new songs available on a limited 7”, a remix of ‘Decline & Fall’ by Steven Wilson and demo versions of all the new album tracks on an extended CD.
See the band’s official store to see all the versions available: https://ManicStreetPreachers.lnk.to/store
Ahead of this, Nicky Wire says of the album:
This is a record of opposites colliding – of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution. While the music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, most of the words 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.
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 record is spearheaded by new single ‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ – a refreshing, direct, and melodic return, it veers between the tainted poetry of those vintage Only Ones singles and the head-long rush of the first three Dinosaur Jr. albums.
Oh, and for the first time Nicky Wire takes lead vocal on a Manics single! Wonders never cease – added vocals by Lana McDonagh, too.
Check it out now.
Catch Manic Street Preachers on tour in Spring 2025 – the dates are routed for Friday and Saturday nights.
April
11 Glasgow Barrowland
12 Glasgow Barrowland
18 London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
19 London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
25 Wolverhampton The Civic at the Halls
26 Bristol Beacon
May
2 Manchester O2 Apollo
3 Manchester O2 Apollo
9 Swansea Arena
10 Swansea Arena
Photo Credit: Alex Lake
