ShareManic Street Preachers return with their 14th studio album The Ultra Vivid Lament on 3rd September 2021released on Columbia/Sony and have announced a tour for this autumn. Orwellian, the first track to be released from the album is classic Manic Street Preachers, dissecting the misuse of words against cascading, glacialmelody.
Manic Street Preachers on Orwellian; “The track is about the battle to claim meaning, the erasing of context within debate, the overriding sense of factional conflict driven by digital platforms leading to a perpetual state of culture war. As with many songs on the record, it was written on the piano by James Dean Bradfield. Musically, it echoes ABBA, the majesty of Alan Rankine’s playing in the Associates and Talk Talk’s It’s My Life with a Lindsey Buckingham guitar solo. It felt like the perfect sonic and lyrical introduction to The Ultra Vivid Lament”.
The Ultra Vivid Lament’s eleven tracks perfectly marry introspection, quiet rage and sublime, irresistible tunes. Those elements are there throughout, from the opening ambient hum of Snowing In Sapporo to the galloping The Secret He Had Missed spush-and-pull duet imagining dialogue between Welsh brother and sister artists Augustus and Gwen John; via Diapause’s sublime contemplation and Happy Bored Alone’s stoic wishful thinking.
Following Manic Street Preachers longest enforced break from playing live, the group will take the album on a cross-country tour. Prior to these dates, they play some previously announced festival shows. Support on all headline shows comes from The Anchoress (except Wembley).
TOUR DATES 2021
September
| Date | Venue |
|---|---|
| Fri 10th | Piece Hall Halifax |
| Sat 18th | Electric Park Festival Jersey |
| Sun 19th | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff |
| Mon 20th | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff |
| Sun 26th | O2 City Hall Newcastle |
| Tue 28th | Usher Hall Edinburgh |
| Wed 29th | Caird Hall Dundee |
October
| Date | Venue |
|---|---|
| Fri 1st | Victoria Hall Stoke-on-Trent |
| Sat 2nd | O2 Apollo Manchester |
| Mon 4th | Barbican York |
| Tue 5th | Barrowland Glasgow |
| Thu 7th | O2 Academy Leeds |
| Fri 8th | Guildhall Portsmouth |
| Sun 10th | O2 Academy Bournemouth |
| Mon 11th | Corn Exchange Cambridge |
| Wed 13th | Forum Bath |
| Thu 14th | Dome Brighton |
December
| Date | Venue |
|---|---|
| Fri 3rd | The SSE Arena Wembley |
2022
May
| Date | Venue |
|---|---|
| Thu 26th | Ashton Gate Stadium Bristol |
| Sat 28th | Ricoh Stadium Coventry |
June
| Date | Venue |
|---|---|
| Wed 1st | Riverside Stadium Middlesbrough |
Tickets are now on sale
