Rewind the Film

So much for mass communication - this is unlike any album the band have ever made.

This month's album releases reviewed by the Evening Standard's music critics

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It's hard not to view the title of Rewind the Film as a conscious allusion to how the Manic Street Preachers are pursuing their career in the second decade of the new millennium.

With five singers and a musical style that veers from folk, through motown via euphoric indie rock and back to cinematic brooding, the Manics' eleventh album is a strange, disparate beast, easy to like but difficult to love. Opener, This Sullen Welsh Heart, has bassist Nicky Wire singing like a man on a long walk home after closing time, before frontman James Dean Bradfield saves it with a reflection on identity and defiance.

Fast forward 21 years and the Manic Street Preachers are still living by the same philosophy.

Album review: 'Rewind The Film', the latest studio album from Manic Street Preachers, finds the Welsh act exhibiting a refreshed sonic palette...

<p>Manic Street Preachers embrace austerity with their best album in years, writes <strong>Paul Mardles</strong></p>

There's a bad old adage that goes

Their lyrics are as blunt as ever, but the Manics seems to have discovered a new subtlety musically, writes <strong>Maddy Costa</strong>

Album Reviews: Manic Street Preachers - Rewind The Film

Manic Street Preachers - Rewind The Film review: Under Neon Loneliness, CHAPTER 11: “Hide All Lowry’s Paintings…”

Wales' favourite sons still have plenty to say on their 11th album. CD review by Lisa-Marie Ferla