Taub Judah Entertainment Palace

Sometimes art and life are too contradictory to fully process, as an observer.

In the same week that Manic Street Preachers make their return to the UK charts with a song which sonically owes a lot to their Imperial Period – the ‘Everything Must Go’ album, released after the disappearance of their lyricist/guitarist Richey Edwards – extracts from a new novel appear on the internet. It’s called ‘Richard’, it’s been written by Ben Myers, and it tries to capture Richey’s internal monologue during the band’s early career, and therefore tell his side of a very sad story.

Had the book been written a couple of years ago, when the Manics put together ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ – an album based on unused Richey lyrics – it would have at least been timely. Now it just seems pointed and a little insensitive that the two things are around at the same time.

Having read the serialised chapter in the NME, all I can add to the debate is to say that I hope Mr Myers had a lot of fun writing it.

(Here’s the video. Checkmate!)

I don’t know to what degree the band had endorsed or encouraged the book view of what Richey may or may not have thought. I don’t know if their love of literature and fantasy glamour made them curious as to how their tale could be re-told through a novelist’s eyes. Or if they have become so used to people prodding this issue that they’ve become hardened to it.

Nicky Wire even told the NME that he tried to read the finished book, but found it hard going: “I found it too upsetting to read the whole thing. The notion that somebody thinks they knew who he was… I mean, I thought I knew Richey, but maybe I didn’t.”

But the timing is strange. The band are calling their new album “one last shot at mass communication”, implying they want to establish themselves as a continuing cultural force into the tenties, and here’s a book re-imagining the period in the band’s life when they were at their most scabrous, cultish and catty.

Meanwhile, here’s a dignified, engaging pop song, played by grizzled old men in their forties, one of whom single-handedly killed and skinned nine seperate feather boa constrictors in order to construct his microphone stand. It’s not a big leap from their other attempts at mass communication, like ‘Your Love Is Not Enough’, but it’s officially a Good Song, and the video has quality thespians copping off in it (look, that’s Michael Sheen and Anna Friel! I know!).

In short, it’s a song that deserves attention for what it is, not what happened to the band who made it, before they made it.

Oh wait…I just did it as well, didn’t I? Dammit!

Download: Out now

www.manicstreetpreachers.com
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot says: “A pretty splendid introduction to the new album.”

Live 4 Ever says: “It would be reasonable to assume they’re keeping the drive-time radio market in mind.”

A Media Mindset says: “I hate songs that have (((brackets))) at the beginning of the title. Looks wrong.”

View full post on BBC – Chart blog