Futurology Futurology Bio The lines are joined by finding one another. Aleksander Rodchenko This record is the quintessence of the people we are when were with each other. How we react to each other. What we talk about. What we argue about. How we agree. Futurology is the people we are. James Dean Bradfield I get more inspiration from looking at art than I do from listening to music. But no matter how deluded, I still have the vision that when we write a song were creating four minutes of art. It might be getting harder to prove it but this is what were still trying to communicate. Communication is our artform. Nicky Wire Manic Street Preachers are the last truly great mainstream British rock group but even a partisan fan could be forgiven for wondering occasionally about how much longer they can carry on at their momentous pace of creativity and relevancy. After all, they formed in South Wales in 1986, released their first single Suicide Alley in 1988, debut album Generation Terrorists in 1992 and had reached their commercial peak by 1998s This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. They have had, as Nicky Wire puts it succinctly, a good innings, acknowledging that most bands are lucky to be still functioning outside of the nostalgia circuit at their age and few, if any at all, remain a force to be reckoned with. However, just one listen to the trios 12th album Futurology will remind the rock fan of many facts - the primary of which being: Manic Street Preachers are not like any other bands. Not by a long chalk. It would be wrong to claim that Futurology is a return to form (lets leave that to the bands who havent produced a good album in years, shall we?) but it does represent a resurgent cresting of their powers and, in many senses, a complete artistic rebirth. It is, in simple terms, one of the best albums they have ever recorded. It presents them still travelling on an upward trajectory, and even by their own standards, they have been on a roll over the last few years. Send Away The Tigers (2007) saw them reconnect with the anthemic glam rock of their early years and Journal For Plague Lovers (2009) featured the band taking care of unfinished business by setting old lyrics of former band mate and friend Richey Edwards to blistering punk rock. With Postcards From A Young Man (2010) - their last shot at mass communication - they successfully revived their stadium rock sound and then with Rewind The Film (2013) they broke new personal ground with an all but unplugged collection of introspective folk songs. During the sessions for that album, it became clear that they were
writing two completely different sets of tracks however. While Rewind
The Film was their attempt to do a Nebraska, the songs
they saved over to make up Futurology were inspired by travelling
through Europe, the pioneering artistic spirit of early 20th Century
modernist art and the maverick music of Krautrock and New Pop. Nicky
says: During our last European tour we really reconnected with
this idea of travelling on the German Autobahns listening to Kraftwerk,
Neu!, Popul Vuh and Cabaret Voltaire. The idea of being on these endless
futuristic roads but being surrounded by these ancient forests at the
same time. Its a magical feeling and it makes you think of soundtracks
in your head as youre travelling through this landscape.
Nicky says: Its a very unsettling portrait of a man grappling with the idea of imminent death. And this song is about that petrifying transition. When youre hitting 45 like we are, everything becomes... more vivid, shall we say. Everything that youre losing and everything thats fucking coming becomes clear. The lyrics come from a massive place of doubt: the tangible idea that something could be taken away from you very easily. Youre blind to it for most of your life but then suddenly you are aware that you could lose everything. You just feel, Oh fuck it could all go. But the Manics of 2014 arent interested in punching you square in face unless the fist is inside a luxuriously soft velvet glove first. The baleful lyrics are tempered and rendered bittersweet by the fact they are delivered by James Dean Bradfield - one of the finest Welsh rock voices of his generation - performing an astounding duet with Green Gartside - one of the finest Welsh pop voices of his. Gartside, as the key member of Scritti Politti, is a touchstone on the album. Futurology does look reverentially back to the secret history of mid-1980s new pop and post-post-punk that informed the margins of the mainstream; but it does so in order to look forwards. James is quick to reel off the countless unsung tracks from this period that still influence him musically to this day. Public Image Limited This Is Not A Love Song. Simple Minds (my true gods) Theme For Great Cities. Colourbox The Moon Is Blue, Bauhaus Dark Entry and the instrumentals off Low. The album takes the listener all the way from existential crisis to spiritual redemption and the monolithic shadow of early 20th Century modernist art falls across the entire journey. Nowhere is this influence more clear than on Black Square, which is named after the infamous painting by the Russian artist, Kazimir Malevich. Of course, its hard to describe just how revolutionary this picture - of a black square in a white void - was when it was unveiled in 1915. Nicky explains his fascination with the artist: The idea of obliterating everything that had gone before, made me think of his art in the terms of punk rock. This painting was the starting point of what the artist saw suddenly not being as important as what the artist felt. Of course, if this all sounds typically intellectual, the band arent so sure themselves. Nicky admits that for the first time ever some of the lyrics on this album are there primarily to serve the aesthetics of the music. Backing this shift in emphasis, Futurology also contains two instrumentals. The first of these tracks, which nods to the monumental basslines carved out for Sons And Fascination-era Simple Minds by Derek Forbes and the chiming post-post-punk guitars of John McGeoch, is Dreaming A City (Hughesovka) and was inspired by a book that Nicky gave to James at Christmas. James explains: The book is called Dreaming A City which is about a Welsh industrialist John Hughes who went over and set up the first steel foundry and coal mine in the Ukraine. And he called it Hughesovka. It was such folly based on such monumental ego but he actually went and did it. You can walk around in life completely unaware of how many narratives that all of these cities, towns and even buildings have. Its so easy to just miss all of it. The way that the Manics have come to use geographical places (and the narratives that lie behind them) to act as emotional metaphors for describing their interior terrain is now core to them. And The View From Stow Hill is a classic example of this style of songwriting. The lyric concerns the 15 minute walk from where Nicky lives to the train station in Newport and this physical journey is emphasised in the track by the three dimensional sense of space that James got from the lyrics and also by the way that Sean Moore fleshed out the song with synths and electronics. However, the trip is also a temporal one, back in political history to the march of the Chartists down from the valleys in November 1839 to where they were shot down in Newport by soldiers - the bullet holes still visible in the brickwork of the Westgate Hotel. The trip also reaches back in time to more recent personal history, to the Stow Hill of their teenage years, when they would visit the local labour club to watch Husker Du and The Butthole Surfers. The Manics have, as youd expect, found many like-minded souls
to collaborate with. On Europa Geht Durch Mich (Europe
passes through me) the German actress Nina Hoss - star of such
cult films as Barbara and Yella - acts as a Pan European political dominatrix
on vocals while the Manics successfully reimagine Giorgio Moroder joining
the ranks of Goldfrapp. This sensuous electro disco barnstormer was
born out of the conflict James felt between being an old fashioned European
federalist and his realisation caused by two decades of continental
touring that none of the individual countries are remotely like one
another. He says: If you want to be part of the EU you have to
construct this state by reconciling the differences between nations
And we never have this type of discussion in Britain do we? Its
either really horrible dim witted right wing arguments or dim witted
left wing arguments. Elsewhere on Divine Youth - a
song partially inspired by a high street store making bootleg Manics
T-shirts from a Mitch Ikeda photograph of a youthful Nicky and Richey
- the preternaturally talented Welsh singer and harpist Georgia Ruth,
shows up to add sublime texture. Talking of the album titles reference to foretelling of the near future, probably the most chilling and prescient piece of futurology ever was George Orwells prediction in the novel 1984 that we would end up permanently at war abroad with the aim of controlling the populace at home. Permanent conflict abroad is now part of the neo-liberal, disaster capitalism agenda and this is referenced by the rocket powered and satirical Lets Go To War. Of course, the song isnt just intended in its more literal meaning. Nicky says: There is also a sense of metaphorical war within ourselves, which is to say, why do we still feel this desperate and innate need to scream our point of view? The band see it as forming the third part of a loose trilogy of songs that was started with You Love Us and Masses Against The Classes. He adds: All these songs give me the same feeling of abandon one last time, lets just go down in fucking flames. These three songs are analysing our pretty daft desire for destruction. Perhaps, the song that will cause the most consternation or intrigue among some Manics observers is the beautiful first single Walk Me To The Bridge with its heartfelt refrain: So long my fatal friend I dont need this to end / I reimagine the steps you took / Still blinded by your intellect / Walk me to the bridge, walk me to the bridge. Nicky explains how the lyrics were written some years previous when he was thinking about leaving the band (the fatal friend) himself: People might have the idea that this song contains a lot of Richey references but it really isnt about that, its about the Øresund Bridge that joins Sweden and Denmark. A long time ago when we were crossing that bridge I was flagging and thinking about leaving the band. When I gave James the lyrics Id imagined it as being this gnarly seven minute long album track and he brought it back edited down as this really exciting, commercial sounding song. Thats when I thought, Uh-oh, here we go... James takes a more militant stance: In this day and age, its almost like you get an imaginary knighthood for saying nothing. It would be a shame if we had to censor ourselves for fear of what people would say. If that was the case Id just call it a day. Luckily for us, it now feels like the Manics calling it a day is less
likely than it has been for years. On Futurology, they have
excised some existential dread, reconnected the dots with the optimism
of their past and opened up a bridge to the future. Nicky concludes:
We chose this quote by the Russian Constructivist artist Aleksander
Rodchenko to go on the sleeve that says, The lines are joined
by finding one another and this reflects the hopeful, uplifting
qualities of the album - namely a belief in the possibilities offered
by the future. The possibilities of being moved and inspired by any
kind of art. FUTUROLOGY "The lines are joined by finding one another." Aleksander Rodchenko Futurology The Next Jet To Leave Moscow Europa Geht Durch Mich Divine Youth Sex, Power, Love and Money Dreaming A City (Hughesovka) Black Square Between The Clock And The Bed Misguided Missile The View From Stow Hill Mayakovsky Futurology Press Release Just over nine months since the release of their acclaimed
top 5 charting eleventh studio album Rewind The Film, the
Manics swiftly follow with a brand new record, Futurology,
out 7th July 2014. Recorded at the legendary Hansa studios in Berlin
and the bands Cardiff base Faster, the thirteen track record sees
the band in furious, propulsive, expansive form a distinct departure
to the last record, whilst still inimitably the Manic Street Preachers.
With clear European influences and feel, the first track to be released
is Walk Me To The Bridge. In a recent conversation with
the Quietus John Doran, Nicky Wire explained how that tracks
lyrics were formed some years previously. People might have the
idea that this song contains a lot of Richey references but it really
isnt about that, its about the Øresund Bridge that
joins Sweden and Denmark. A long time ago when we were crossing that
bridge I was flagging and thinking about leaving the band (the fatal
friend). Its about the idea of bridges allowing you an out
of body experience as you leave and arrive in different places.
James Dean Bradfield describes the track as an emotional European
driving song with early Simple Minds synths and a Heroes-esque Ebow
guitar solo. The album features several special guests, Scritti Polittis Green Gartside duets with James Dean Bradfield on Between the Clock and the Bed, a beautiful song inspired by a famous Edvard Munch painting. German film star Nina Hoss appears on Europa Geht Durch Mich, a stomping disco punk track which received a stunning response on the recent tour. Other guests include Georgia Ruth (winner of the 2013 Welsh Music Prize), Cian Ciarán (Super Furry Animals), Cate le Bon and H. Hawkline. It was produced by Manic Street Preachers, Loz Williams and Alex Silva (The Holy Bible) with additional mixing by Craig Silvey. The artwork for Futurology features imagery by German artist Catrine Val (chosen by the band when they saw her work in her book Feminist). Manic Street Preachers have just finished a triumphant UK tour (We still love them, and they still love rock, and the rebel visions it allows 5* Independent) and are due to head to Europe for dates before returning for several festival appearances. Single WALK ME TO THE BRIDGE 29th June 2014 Live: Track Listing: Futurology Lyrics Defenders of the faith Well come back one day One day we will return Weve all killed some ants Well come back one day One day we will return
Driving slowly to the bridge Old songs leave long shadows So long my fatal friend I dont need this The sky so clear the different view The road never ends the motion starts So long my fatal friend I dont need this to
end So long my fatal friend Lets Go To War All the complications Lets go to war Working class skeletons Lets go to war The views they will now darken Lets go to war The Next Jet To Leave Moscow An old jaded commie walking in Red Square So take your badges off So you played in Cuba did you like it brother? So take your badges off Europa Geht Durch Micht Europe had a language problem European skies European desires Europa geht durch mich Ghosts appear like ruined sleep European skies European desires Europa geht durch mich God builders divine losers European skies European desires Europa geht durch mich Divine Youth Arms around each other The weakest in the gang And I sing to myself And money it just buys Divine youth is lying in And I sing to myself The kids are growing old And I sing to myself Sex Power Love and Money It reads like a novel within a sigh Obsession possession confession recession Upload your future and download your past Obsession possession confession recession The Black Square Let us overcome our endless progress Resources divorces Resources divorces Let us wipe the slate clean let us dig our own graves Resources divorces Resources divorces
Im well aware of happiness Between the clock and the bed Yes Im as guilty as the rest Between the clock and the bed Hatred and failure go perfectly together Misguided Missile I am a self obsessed fool I am the strum and drang I am crawling into corners I am the strum and drang Society never made an effort with me I am the strum and drang
How did this town get so old You can still see the bullet holes Look up to the skies avoid the casual litter Look up to the skies avoid the casual litter --------------------------------
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