Manic Street Preachers / Rewind the Film

The first striking thing about this record is the minimalistic and sublime artwork. In fact, it captures the attention from the first contact, as you can’t be certain at all what is contained within. To some extent the music matches the artwork well, and in other senses these songs are bigger than the simple image on the cover. Either way, the two are signals of a band at peace with itself. It is that which is most striking about this album. Here is a band that has a now rather long history, is well over 20 years into its career, and yet still maintains a passion and motivation that perhaps many would have lost by now.

Manic Street Preachers doesn’t want to or attempt to sound like anybody else and it doesn’t. It clearly has many influences, but they drive the band to create something new rather than replicate. This is three men and a ghost from Wales that has just made one hell of a record. The band is comfortable in its shell, and has written and recorded twelve lovely tracks full of life and hope and wisdom that demand further listening. They aren’t the kind of songs that leave a listener descending into boredom, there is so much here to feast on and satisfy the listener. As musicians pass the forty year old mark it often signals some decline in form and attempts are made to recreate the past or re-invention goes horribly wrong. Here, growing older gracefully, in love with music and with some respect for it as a career and lifeline sounds gorgeous and necessary. There is brass, there are strings and there are ballads and louder, grander songs. It is all the Manics though; they are totally in control, owners of the direction of their musical journey now.

For all the evidence and suggestions that youngsters are the ones who own Rock ‘n’ Roll, how often have you thought that they don’t actually know anything, or even have much experience on which to base their lyrics and musings? On this record, you can witness the sound of people with something to say, telling stories, doing it in magnificent style, delighting their listeners and fans. It isn’t even about what has come before, a task hard for fans of any given band to comprehend, just taking the material here for what it is - a diverse, well constructed and lovely set of songs. There is wisdom only life and living can give us, and the results are delicious. This is a wonderful collection of songs. It is epic, delicate, grandiose, and reassuring. Somehow it feels made for just your ears alone, at the same time as being for everyone with the sense to give it a chance. Give it a chance.