Tag: rewind the film

I want to see it all, never want to let it go

Rewind The Film

Manic Street Preachers – Rewind The Film (review)

Their last album, Postcards From A Young Man, was their ‘one last shot at mass communication’, and the subsequent ‘National Treasures‘ compilation and mammoth 02 Arena show marked the end of an era for the band.

With a new era beginning, it seems the Manic Street Preachers are free of such commercial concerns and, on this, their 12th album, have turned off the amps and mellowed out – a lot. Within seconds of listening to opener This Sullen Welsh Heart (featuring Lucy Rose on vocals) it’s obvious this is a Manics album like no other. This is an album about growing up, growing old mourning, self examination, nostalgia, loss and old age, and in places is a very unsettling listen. There are guest appearances from Richard Hawley (on the title track) and Cate Le Bon (4 Lonely Roads – incidentally, one of the only tracks to feature an electric guitar) but in both of these cases, James Dean Bradfield steps back and lets the guest vocalists take the spotlight. It seems that everything about this album is unconventional.

It’s not all introspective though. Show Me The Wonder is an uptempo, brass-filled homage to living life and seeing the beauty in everything, and the anti-Thatcher 30 Year War is the closest we get to the Manics of old (‘And the endless parade of old Etonian scum line the front benches‘). On the whole though, Rewind The Film is much more restrained than anything they’ve done before.

After trying everything from ‘mass communication’ (Postcards) ‘heavy metal Tamla Motown’ (Send Away The Tigers) to ‘elegaic pop’ (Lifeblood) in recent years, it is refreshing to see the band do something completely different, throw away any sort of Manics rulebook, and, now in their mid-forties, take a step back, and examine themselves in such a personal way. This album is not going to drastically change their live setlists but it is the Manics in fine form, and on this, their 12th album, as relevant as ever.




They’re back!

Manic+Street+Preachers

So after the epic, epic set at the 02 in December 2011 all was quiet in the Manics camp for a short while. They announced a ‘2-year hiatus’, but recently announced an appearance at this year’s Festival No. 6 in Portmeirion, and  it seems they are planning on releasing TWO albums as part of their self–described ‘last great phase of the Manic Street Preachers’.

The first, acoustically led album is called ‘Rewind The Film’ and they’ve just posted up a link to the title track. It’s a radical departure from anything they’ve done in a while and features Richard Hawley on vocals. It’s an interesting arrangement, not least because most of the singing is done by Richard Hawley, and James Dean Bradfield does not appear until 3 minutes in! Presumably they tried a more ‘traditional’ vocal share but opted for this version – they are obviously two completely different voices. The video is touching and captures the romanticism of the Welsh valleys beautifully.

There will be tour dates too, in September, at considerably smaller venues than you may have seen them recently, certainly a step down from the enormous, epic ‘National Treasures’ show at London’s 02 in December. Here in London, they are playing the 2, 000 capacity Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Personally, (and speaking as a big fan) I haven’t seen them in such a small venue since the ‘Send Away The Tigers’ tour in 2007 so it promises to be something special. Can’t wait!