Manic Street Preachers
Critical Thinking
★★★★
COLUMBIA
“You love us,” sang the Manic Street Preachers, when hardly anyone did, and they’ve toyed with the affections of the record-buying public ever since, following long-playing come-hither with regular knees to the groin.
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Their latest positioning statement, however, is one of their least contrary: a songs-first concoction steeped in nostalgia. To wit: the goth-pop title track, sung by bassist Nicky Wire with extreme sarcasm, hankers for a time when public discourse was more robust, less beset by wellness clichés. Decline And Fall addresses the inevitable fading of one’s powers with, ironically, one of their strongest tunes since 1996 LP Everything Must Go. Dear Stephen is a song for any fan of The Smiths who ever wished for their old Morrissey back, or perhaps the Morrissey they once thought he was. Meanwhile, the singalong riffs of Being Baptised and People Ruin Paintings provide bursts of winter sunshine. Rarely have ruminations on decline, in fact, sounded so vigorous.
Critical Thinking is out February 7 via Columbia.
ORDER: Amazon | Rough Trade | HMV
Tracklisting:
Critical Thinking
Decline & Fall
Brushstrokes Of Reunion
Hiding In Plain Sight
People Ruin Paintings
Dear Stephen
Being Baptised
My Brave Friends
Out Of Time Reveal
Deleted Scenes
Late Day Peaks
OneManMilitia
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