The band have also released a new single, Orwellian, which, the say, "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."

 

They continue: "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... It felt like the perfect sonic and lyrical introduction to The Ultra Vivid Lament."

 

Guest singers on The Ultra Vivid Lament, which is the first MANICS album initially conceived on piano rather than guitar, include Mark Lanegan and Julia Cumming from New York rockers SUNFLOWER BEAN.

It was recorded over the winter in Wales at Rockfield in Monmouth, and at the band's Door to the River studio in Newport.

 

MANIC STREET PREACHERS have also announced a series of UK dates, which kick off on September 26 at Newcastle City Hall, and climax on December 3 at London's Wembley Arena. Support comes from The Anchoress. 

 

Image credit: Alex Lake