"Critical Thinking" is Manic Street Preachers' new release

You'll all have your opinions on the Manics by now. You may believe unequivocally that they are a good thing, a lighthouse of intelligence and astute belligerence on the crumbling cliff of British guitar music. Critical Thinking is undeniably a pop album. It goes about its business briskly, features melodies, strong choruses and a beautiful airiness to the production. It sounds as if they've thrown the window wide open and gulped a lungful of fresh air. The piano-led Decline And Fall veritably skips with joy, even as the lyrics mourn: "I know our time has come and gone/ But at least we blazed a trail and shone." Dear Stephen relays the true story of Smiths fan Nicky Wire finding a 'get well soon' postcard at his family home that he was sent as a teenager by Morrissey.

True children of post-punk, the trio remain one of the last bands to see pop as an improving form, who draw influence from literature and art, seeing music as a portal to those media. People Ruin Paintings mentions Rothko and Van Gogh, Hiding In Plain Sight takes inspiration from the poet Anne Sexton. Best of all is the title track, which sees Wire list the banal clichés that clutter so much modern discourse: "It's okay to not be okay/ live your best life/ be kind." It'll have you punching the air with delight.

It's now been 30 years since the disappearance of guitarist Richey Edwards, the event that diverted the Manics' career onto a path that has often seemed perpetually autumnal, one defined by absence. But 15th album Critical Thinking is like a shaft of bright October sunshine, the sound of a band if not at ease with the world outside (thank God) then at ease with themselves. 
One of their best, then, and highly recommended, for fans and newcomers alike.

Beth Simpson / Classic Pop