Since I do not really feel like reviewing anything released this month (PiL's album was merely decent, Neil Young's LP was an archival release and The Hives still suck), we should absolutely talk about the new album by Nicky Wire that came out in July.
Apparently, Nicky Wire is a different person these days. He is full of love and warmth and simple human happiness. He is not calling Glastonbury a 'shithole' and does not want to convert you to socialism anymore. He has let it all go, and all of a sudden, he has some of this year's best melodies to share. Which, in a somewhat odd twist, he has chosen to release very quietly, back in early July, via Bandcamp.
To give you an idea of just how strong the songwriting on INTIMISM is, let me point you towards the biggest lyrical line of the album. The said lyric seems clumsy on paper and comes during the chorus of "Keeper of the Flame". It goes like this:
The social bit leaves me cold.
The sense of these words notwithstanding (not entirely truthful, according to the man himself), Nicky Wire makes the line sing. It sounds infectious, anthemic and unapologetically well-written. This is the imperious form that Nicky Wire is in on this album. And I have never even been underwhelmed by I Killed The Zeitgeist, his first solo album from 2006.
The album features twelve new songs, two of which are tasteful free jazz freak-outs and ten are instant indie-rock classics. The former have titles "Migrane No.1" and "Migraine No.2" and display Nicky's fascination with Ornette Coleman. The latter are somewhat confusing in their consistent brilliance. They sound like a man repressed for years was finally able to exorcise his demons, and said demons turned out to be irresistible pop creations (not unlike what happened to his musical partner James Dean Bradfield in 2006). I do not believe there is any point in talking about individual songs as there are no particular dips in quality. However, the best moments include the lush piano section at the end of "You Wear Your Broken Heart Like A Dress", the soaring, strings-drenched chorus of "A Perfect Place To Grow" and the blissful entirety of "White Musk".
Imagine a full album of songs as good as "Break My Heart Slowly". This is what you get here, only the sound if fuller, the production is more elaborate and the performances contain a lot more oomph and conviction. I hear there is a new Manic Street Preachers album on the way... If this is what we will have to deal with, count me in.
