Credits:

Manic Street Preachers

Description:

Quiet passion dominates the entire album, the 14th studio album in total! The band's 14th studio album, and the first in three years. This is the first album of theirs to be initially inspired by the piano rather than the guitar. Recorded in the winter of 2020-21 with longtime collaborator Dave Elinga (The Who) at Rockfield in Monmouth, Wales, and at their Newport-owned Door to the River Studios, the album was later recorded with David Wrench (Blossoms, Frank Ocean, and Arlo Parks) did the mixing. The album features two guest vocalists, Julia Cumming (Sunflower Bean) on "The Secret He Had Mist" and Mark Lanegan on "Blank Diary Entry". The recording is a perfect blend of introspection, quiet intensity and sublime, irresistible songs. These elements run throughout, from the ambient humming of the opening track, the interestingly titled "Still Snowing in Sapporo" for the Japanese, to the ending.