By admin
It has been some wait indeed, but American indie rock stalwarts Manchester Orchestra, have finally returned this week with some brand new material in ‘The Gold’, the first single off their upcoming album ‘A Black Mile to the Surface’.
Their first release since their fourth studio album ‘Cope’ back in 2014, this new track more potently also offers the first glimpse of how the band have dealt with the departure of keyboardist Chris Freeman, who left last September to pursue ‘his own’ projects.
And it seems they have coped in the only way they have ever shown to know how; by tinkering with their sound, and doing something appropriately different to their last outing.
For this time round it all takes on a slower, more melodic and slightly foreboding feel, with Andy Hull ruminating on a burnt-out relationship in his almost folkish vocals, and the guitars harmonising with the pianos, rather than marching the song onwards as they often did before.
While it may not qualify for your warm and sunbright summer playlist, there’s much to be found in the melancholy of this tune. Indeed, in true Manchester Orchestra style, it has a somewhat journey-like quality about it, helped too by the fuzzy and tangential video that accompanies it.
Not only that, but it all feels quite accessible too, and may well reach out to those who have yet to give these guys a chance – who named their group so after gazing longingly at the long list of musical pedigree from the great English city.
Whether they rank as a recent discovery or an old indie flame of yours, it’ll probably interest you to know that their fifth full-length will be out on 23rd July, and can be pre-ordered now. If it’s anything like this, it may well be good as gold.
