The Manic Street Preachers have been known to shift their sound from album to album. With the upcoming release of their new album, Lifeblood, the Welsh political rockers have gone 100% pop. Their seventh studio album, to be released in the UK on November 1, is the Manics’ transformation into catchy synth pop, but in a way that still captures the heart of the band.

In an interview with XFM, bass player Nicky Wire said: “think David Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes was a big influence on this album. Our idea was of an amazing pop single, but with a lyric about an astronaut on smack. You’ve got mums and dads singing along after it was on The Kenny Everitt Show and yet it’s a really dark and disturbing lyric.” In defending their venture into pop music, he continued: “I think pop’s become a filthy word, not just a dirty word. When we grew up, bands like New Order were a very alternative act, but just crossed all genres and were capable of three-and-a-half minutes of pop brilliance.”

The Manic camp claims that the intelligence of their songwriting is still there, just enveloped in a poptastic outer shell. Sort of like a bag of M&Ms, except the delicious candy shell surrounds something healthy, like a piece of celery. Mmmmm… choco-celery. Now I know what to give the kids who will be trick or treating on my street this coming Halloween. To hear the album for yourself, it is currently streaming online at XFM.

Lifeblood
01. “1985”
02. “The Love of Richard Nixon”
03. “Empty Souls”
04. “A Song For Departure”
05. “I Live To Fall Asleep”
06. “To Repel Ghosts”
07. “Emily”
08. “Glasnost”
09. “Always/Never”
10. “Solitude Sometimes Is”
11. “Fragments”
12. “Cardiff Afterlife”

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