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From an article at bbc.co.uk 
The Manics were also at the MOJOs and they gave us some details on their new album. James said they've moved on musically, tried a few things out and have basically just chilled out a bit:"I think we've been much more relaxed. I think our last studio effort got a bit of a slamming. It's been long enough behind us now just to forget about it" "We've just gone through the process of actually redesigning the way we do things, without actually sitting down and learning how to do it. We've taken so much time away from being a touring and recording band that when we actually came back we were ready to play in a new way" "It's not jazz-funk or anything! But there's something a bit more focused and sometimes a bit more pop-experimental about it" Extracts from his Virgin radio interview  On playing at IOW: It's weird because we haven't done a gig for about 10 months and we've just been writing new stuff and to be honest, I'm looking forward to this gig but it's right in the middle of us trying to finish a new record so it's been slightly frantic for us the last couple of weeks because we've been rehearsing for this plus trying to get stuff ready for a new record as well.On working with Tony Visconti: Well we went over and we did 4 tracks with him and 3 of those tracks are going to be on the album. So like I'd say about a 3rd of the album is done by Tony Visconti which was always the plan. We always wanted to start off with him and then carry on on our own. You know, carry on with just doing the stuff ourselves nearly. And it worked out the way we felt it would because going with him, it kind of gave us a bit of confidence to carry on doing what we were doing. He kind of confirmed to us that we were going in the right direction. So it's kind of worked out in that sense. Does a little bit of his sound kind of rub off on you so you know you say you did the 3 songs then you carried on on your own - a little bit of his way of working in the studio continued maybe? I think kind of like, he just confirmed the things that you find out as you've done as many albums as us I suppose, is that very rarely a producer makes you sound like something. They can focus you, they can tell you what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. But usually a great producer capitalises on the good things that are going on in new material and that's what he did really. It's kind of ironic because we came back and we had this one song and it sounds like Tony Visconti produced it but he didn't. We did it ourselves and we stole all his tricks for this one track, all his old tricks, you know. So I think we seem to be the kind of band that responds to that kind of almost stately kind of authority, you know, like Mike Hedges before and now Tony Visconti. We seem to respond to that kind of older father figure kind of vibe. This time, like I said, it was almost like a confidence boost, the work we did with Tony. Then we went on and worked with somebody from Wales called Greg Haver. And just felt as if we'd kind of rediscovered something. He gave us the confidence and we went off and did it kind of thing. On this album I just think, we just realised that all through our history some of the best moments have just been drenched in melody whether it be Design For Life or If You Tolerate This or Motorcycle Emptiness you know, or You Love Us even you know. We just let all the melodies just guide us. We decided not to be ashamed of any of those melodies... it's got a tiny bit of a pop edge to it I think. It's really strange. It's like this gig is in the midst of us doing a new record so I'm kind of a bit wrapped up in "Manic Street Preacher Land" at the moment (he's not the only one!!) On the release date: Hopefully you know this year (laughs) so...  Welsh rock heroes Manic Street Preachers are renowned for their thoughtful, well-written lyrics, but the band's lead singer has admitted he doesn't understand many of them. James Dean Bradfield told an audience of fans at the Hay Festival that, while he sings the words, he doesn't necessarily know what they are about. He said lyricist Nicky Wire concentrates on the words, while he focuses on the music. He used to let Wire and writing partner Richey Edwards discuss their strong feelings in the lyrics. Bradfield's foray into writing with Ocean Spray, which was about the death of his mother, looks unlikely to be repeated. Doubting that he would write lyrics again, he said, "The first time I wrote a song it was about someone close to me dying, I don't think I will be in a hurry to do that again" However he did reveal that Wire is writing songs with a partner again - the first time since the disappearance of band member Richey Edwards. The 35-year-old, who is currently penning the Blackwood band's seventh album, has decided to write some of the lyrics with his brother, Patrick Jones. Bradfield said: "It is the first time he has written with anyone since Richey. He had a ying and yang thing going on with Richey, and with Patrick I think it might be the same. People always assume that Richey was the driving force writing lyrics, but it was 50/50. Straight down the middle until The Holy Bible album. They would bounce off each other, but when the Richey thing happened there was nothing to bounce off, no contradictory opinions". The singer explained it took a long time for his band mate to open himself up to writing with another person. "The fact that it was Patrick explains it a bit"  James passionately defends his beliefs as we move on to The Manic Street Preachers and how their next album has developed. I just think we've realised that we love melody and that all the best songs we've ever written and those that we have listened to are just great pieces of music. And so with this album we've embraced it and made a sort of elegiac pop record. Of course the guitars are still there. There's a song called Solitude Sometimes Is which has this beautiful free flow to it and another track, 1985, conjures up so many images of aftermath, of the miners' strike, of personal memories and societal struggles. It has a great lyric by Nick and I just felt I had to do it justice with the music. Then there's The Love Of Richard Nixon which was sort of inspired by Bowie's This Is Not America. And Nick is always developing as a writer and finding new images, new ways of saying so it's been an exciting time and I really enjoyed just being in the studio, creating. I'm just inspired by great poetry, great words and have to reflect that greatness in the music. As a band I think we seem more at ease with ourselves, with each other, with the music and also, with Richey (Edwards) and how we remember him and what he meant to us. And we feel we do it in the right way in the human way as Nick does in the words to Cardiff Afterlife. It goes, 'And yet I kept my silence and the memories are still mine'. In that song we sensed the breaking of our lives" |
