New single - friday 8/12

[junkymotown]

Originally Posted by Routine Builder

Am I only one who detected the return of the unnecessary GT-style electronic drumming?

No, I heard it too. I just prayed I'd heard it wrong :-(

[Dac X Lee]

And here I am to bring my naive and genuine joy.
Yay! Yay! Yay!
New Manics song! ♥

And btw, need I say I like it?
Yes?
Okay then.
I like their new song.

[Flint]

I like the chorus quite a bit actually, I'm a sucker for that melody, but I'm not too sure about the verses. It's actually really strange, even though the verses flow perfectly to the choruses they still sound like they're from completely different songs. Someone mentioned that the solo reminds them of old Sega racing games and that actually describes the verses as well perfectly to me - and while I do love my Sega rock, I'm not sure that's the sound I wanted to hear as the lead single. Admittedly, I'm just a little disappointed that after the last two albums and the trailer snippets, this sounds like another stadium rock anthem attempt. Which they're traditionally really strong at tbh, but kind of not where I was hoping they'd go back to after RTF and Futurology.

Still more positive than negative about it though. It's got heart to it, which is what matters. I just don't really find the desire to obsessively repeat it, it kind of comes and goes.

I know the very concept of a CD single was too much to ever ask for but I am hoping they'll at least announce a digital single or something, I need my b-sides.

[Nobody]

I first heard the song on Steve Wrights show (unfortunately haven't heard it since on the radio). When I heard the intro I thought it was a Suede song or someone trying to sound similar.
I think the song is a grower, but it hasn't grabbed like the Europa or WMTTB.

[Marconi Delorian]

I think it's their best comeback single since Tolerate. It is similar to Walk Me to The Bridge in a way, but I much prefer this - it soars whereas WMTTB is a bit lumpen in the verses. Very 80s Springsteen stadium rock - it actually is GT meets EMG as well!

[whiterevolver]

Originally Posted by Marconi Delorian

Very 80s Springsteen stadium rock

Dancing In The Dark. Seriously, the first time I heard it I started singing the lyrics to Bruce over the Manics.

That aside, I like the single (and it has earwormed its way into my brain), but I'm hoping for something more challenging from the album.

[ForeverDelayed.com]

Still not available on Apple Music in US

[Frozendiva]

Any way for you to access Apple Music Canada?

[bgdaniels]

Originally Posted by ForeverDelayed.com

Still not available on Apple Music in US

Sean has said on his Twitter account that they currently don't have a licensing deal in the US, but are hopeful to obtain one. Until then

[UEF]

Originally Posted by whiterevolver

Dancing In The Dark. Seriously, the first time I heard it I started singing the lyrics to Bruce over the Manics.

That aside, I like the single (and it has earwormed its way into my brain), but I'm hoping for something more challenging from the album.

MSP always start each campaign with a big earner single - this one is quite a bit better than the "Love Enough" type songs

[junkymotown]

If you haven't heard it yet due to country restrictions, drop me a PM...

[someone, somewhere, soon]

still don't see this as a proper lead single, more of an Underdogs-esque "chuck one out for the fans to tide them over before the actual campaign starts" type thing.

saying that, seems to be getting good bit of radio play - i've had mates comment on hearing it, even the wife picked up on it a few times, and she's a very casual, 'Radio One only, when bothered to turn the radio on' type listener.

my thoughts; decent enough mix of the good bits of Postcards (the pronunciation of "interludes" is pure Golden Platitudes), Futurology (the lead riff to me sounds a lot like Kraftwerk's Computerlove sped up a bit?), and, fair enough, even a little bit of GT (middle 8 is very GT b-sidey). it's not the massive 'woah' of a comeback track that WMTTB was, but again, maybe that's waiting in the wings for a more intense campaign once Xmas is over. mate did ruin it a little bit by calling it game show music and doing a Going For Gold type monologue over the intro in the car the other day.

[UEF]

Heard it on Radio X this morning, that’s quite impressive seeing as they only play about 5 songs

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

I really like the song, it's catchy and a bit of an earworm but it's odd that they've decided to release it without a proper video and physical release, which I think will be coming in Jan (vid definitely is and physical release is possibly happening too).

There are a few things that really niggle me about it as well though - the chorus is catchy but almost too catchy to the point of being slightly annoying because of the repetitive nature of the chorus riff. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

The other slight annoyance I have is with the drumming, it's almost a little too mechanical sounding, harking back to the GT-era programmed stuff. Although when I mentioned it on Twitter, Sean himself responded by saying the drumming is on a real kit with some electronic accompaniment, which I assume would probably be the percussion, maybe?

I absolutely love the verses - it's a rarity for me in that I probably like the verses more than the choruses, they just seem more interesting. I also love James' vocals, particularly on the "you painted with fi-ahhhh" bit!

The chord changes during the solo are also very interesting and do deviate slightly from the verse/chorus chord structure, which is nice to see.

It's also interesting to hear how different the song sounds compared to what we got on the trailer. The last song on the trailer and the extract of IB were the only two that really stood out for me because everything else seemed a bit muffled or too short to enjoy - but the song sounded a lot more guitar heavy and the drums actually sound more "real" on that mix. The song was recorded in October so was possibly a very early mix of it. Hope we get a mix like that on the deluxe edition!

[Porco]

I agree with every word of that.

“You painted with fire / Only the ashes now remain” is probably my favourite line in the song, but it’s all good.