Manic Street Preachers announce new album, Critical Thinking

The new single, "Hiding In Plain Sight" features for the first time, lead vocals from bassist/lyricist Nicky Wire. Initially inspired by a line from the poet Anne Sexton ("I am a collection of dismantled almosts"), the track contrasts a fearful midlife nostalgia – one in which the writer longs to “keep the curtains drawn all day”.

“This is a record of opposites colliding - of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution," Wire explains. "While the music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, most of the words deal with the cold analysis of the self, the exception being the three lyrics by James (Dean Bradfield) which look for and hopefully find answers in people, their memories, language and beliefs."

"The music is energised and at times euphoric. Recording could sometimes be sporadic and isolated, at other times we played live in a band setting, again the opposites making sense with each other," Wire continues. "There are crises at the heart of these songs. They are microcosms of skepticism and suspicion, the drive to the internal seems inevitable - start with yourself, maybe the rest will follow.”

Manic Street Preachers have announced a series of UK tour dates to follow the release of the album. All of the dates take place on Friday and Saturday nights, with shows in Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, London, among others. Fans who pre-order the new album from the official store will have access to the pre-sale on Wednesday 30 October.