Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartek Wyre
I mean c'mon, it's 2024, the 80s nostalgia thing is a dead fad. The 90s and 00s seem to be all the rage now baby! And this only proves that the Manics have lost their touch with the zeitgeist they had back in their early days when they sounded like whatever was fashionable. Now they just sound unfashionable.
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I don't think they've been considered fashionable for a very long time
And have they ever really tried to emulate what was fashionable? Even during THB era they were out of step with most of their peers, so I wouldn't say that was anything new. The later '90s was a bit different obviously, but I don't think they intentionally set out to be a part of the whole Britpop era, it felt more like convenient timing that they were able to take advantage of to me. Plus, do we really need them rehashing that decade again? They've already done enough navel gazing and anniversary editions/tours as it is, even before everyone else was cashing in on the nostalgia.
I think their battle has always been with themselves rather than trying to latch onto popular trends. A lot of their eras have been reactions to previous ones and to themselves, with varying degrees of success. It often seems like they get too in their heads about what they think the Manics are
supposed to sound like. I thought it was interesting in that recent Mojo interview James said something about having a sense of freedom now and hoping they could go into the next album with more of that (as in the one after Critical Thinking), as it made me think perhaps they hadn't felt that same freedom before.
Anyway, to the new song...I'm surprised they've gone with a Nicky-led track as a single and that it's the second single that's presumably going to be a large focus of their Jools Holland appearance, a new video starring the actual band and the album announcement tomorrow. Whereas Decline and Fall just got a basic lyric video as the lead single (although I have actually heard it on the radio a few times recently). It feels a bit back to front to me, but hey ho.
Can't really say I've formed a strong opinion on the song itself yet after just one listen, but I can't help but miss James' voice on it and think I would have preferred it to be a duet between them.