Rewind The Film (Single) - Manic Street Preachers

I haven’t been keeping up to date with the Manic Street Preachers for quite some time, mainly because their last full studio album “Postcards From A Young Man” back in 2010, was accompanied with claims that the band would be going on hiatus for a while. This claim was further justified by the release of the retrospective collection “National Treasures – Complete Singles” a year later. It was quite surprising therefore to suddenly discover that not only was there a new album in the works, but its release date was not far off.

“Postcards From A Young Man” included guest appearances on several tracks, from artists like John Cale and Ian McCulloch. That trend seems set to continue on this album, and this track (not actually a single) features Richard Hawley. Hawley is no stranger to making guest appearances on other band’s albums, having lent his distinctive baritone vocals and guitar playing style to ‘The Fix’ on Elbow’s “The Seldom Seen Kid”, but I have to say I was surprised by just how heavily featured he is on this track. One might almost be mistaken for thinking this was actually a Richard Hawley single, with a guest appearance from the Manic Street Preachers!

James Dean Bradfield doesn’t appear on this track until about half way through, but when he does the Welshman’s vocals erupt triumphantly from the depth of Hawley’s much lower vocal tone, making the wait seem worthwhile. Bradfield’s rare vocal appearances are also accompanied by a string section, which elevates the shift in vocal tones even further. 

The track is deliberately paced, taking its time at over six minutes in length, but there is enough variety in the instrumentation that the lengthy running time doesn’t feel laboured. Both the band and Hawley are given time to shine, and on the rare moments when the two vocalists sing together, their voices blend really well. 

The general tone set by this track is much more atmospheric and acoustically driven, as opposed to being more rock-oriented. The upcoming album has taken elements of its predecessor, but the band is no longer pursuing a sound as commercially accessible, which should result in something entirely different. At this stage in their career the band are pretty much free to make whatever kind of record they want.

The first proper single ‘Show Me The Wonder’ is due out in September, and should give further indication of what can be expected from the upcoming album.