Manic Street Preachers have released a video for Orwellian.
The track first arrived in May along with details of their 14th studio LP, 'The Ultra Vivid Lament', due out on September 3 via Columbia/Sony.
The accompanying short film was helmed by frequent collaborator Kieran Evans and features archive as well as improvised footage. He said:
"For this album project, [Nicky] Wire and myself decided there should be more experimentation to the visual approach to both the promos and short films we have planned. We've called this clip of Orwellian a "visualized" version because it's not strictly a promo, it’s much more of a visual interpretation of the song by me. To create it, I utilised footage from my personal film archive alongside material I've recently shot of the band and of the Diamond Light we have designed for the campaign. The selection of shots and the colour grade were very much influenced by the lyrics and allowed me to frame a visual story that reflected the themes of such a vital and compelling song."
Manic Street Preachers added: "The track is about the battle to claim meaning, the erasing of context within debate, the overriding sense of factional conflict driven by digital platforms leading to a perpetual state of culture war. As with many songs on the record, it was written on the piano by James Dean Bradfield. Musically, it echoes ABBA, the majesty of Alan Rankine's playing in the Associates and Talk Talk's It’s My Life with a Lindsey Buckingham guitar solo. It felt like the perfect sonic and lyrical introduction to 'The Ultra Vivid Lament'".
The band will support the record with an autumn UK tour, including a huge gig at London's SSE Arena Wembley on December 3. Tickets are on sale now.
Earlier in June, they pushed back their upcoming Cardiff shows for a second time due to the continuing COVID-19 restrictions. Original tickets remain valid.
Manic Street Preachers Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Fri September 10 2021 - HALIFAX Piece Hall
Sun September 19 2021 - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
Mon September 20 2021 - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
Sun September 26 2021 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 City Hall
Tue September 28 2021 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
Wed September 29 2021 - DUNDEE Caird Hall
Fri October 01 2021 - STOKE Victoria Hall
Sat October 02 2021 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Mon October 04 2021 - YORK York Barbican Centre
Tue October 05 2021 - GLASGOW Barrowland Ballroom
Thu October 07 2021 - LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds
Fri October 08 2021 - PORTSMOUTH Guildhall
Sun October 10 2021 - BOURNEMOUTH O2 Academy Bournemouth
Mon October 11 2021 - CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
Wed October 13 2021 - BATH Bath Forum
Thu October 14 2021 - BRIGHTON Brighton Dome
Fri December 03 2021 - LONDON SSE Arena Wembley
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