Artist of the Day: Manic Street Preachers

I'm in a tiny minority of Manic Street Preachers fans in that I don't believe they've ever released a truly great album. Sure The Holy Bible is edgy as fuck, Gold Against the Soul is loaded with stadium sized tunes and Everything Must Go shifted shed-loads of units, but despite having populated my listening habits since my early teens, none of them has hit me hard enough to become one of my favourites - nope, not even The Holy Bible. With the Welsh trio almost universally accepted to have passed their peak, it sadly seems unlikely that predicament will ever change, yet I still can't help but feel a tinge of hope and excitement ahead of the group's latest comeback.
 
Perhaps this curious sensation is due to Rewind the Film, out September 16, marking their first true foray into acoustic music. Perhaps it's because the recently unveiled title track features the gorgeous Yorkshire brogue of Richard Hawley. Perhaps it's simply because it'll represent the polar opposite to 2010's Postcards from a Young Man, its "shot at mass communication" having by all accounts slumped to failure, and accounted for one of my least favourite records of theirs to date. Whatever the reason, its drop date is certainly one to underline on your mental release calendar; even if it already feels mightily crowded as we dive into the second half of the musical year. It's not the way most would mark their return after a spell away, but if nothing else it should make for a refreshing deviation for a band who were veering towards stagnation, and I for one am looking forward to it a whole lot more than the electric LP rumoured be following hot on its heels.

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Rewind the Film is released on September 16. You can stream the title track here.

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