Critical Thinking

It appears they have landed on something magnificent; symphonies of aching, internalised nostalgia and frequent beauty, bookended by hate, despair and some of their finest sonic experiments ever.

It more than stands on its own merits.

The Manics may no longer be generation terrorists (if you can indeed be such a thing in your mid-50s) but Critical Thinking shows that, when they fancy it, they can still deliver a witheringly bracing state of the nation address.

Sonically, ‘Critical Thinking’ has touches of the European modernist propulsion of 2014 renaissance record ‘Futurology’ and the graceful ABBA pop flourishes of 2021 predecessor ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’. But its uplifting warmth met with provocative spikiness feels like an album written staring up at the posters of their teenage art-pop and indie heroes – meant for the crackle of a record or the buzz of a cassette.

Freed from expectation, they can gleefully channel the melodic sheen of the Eighties without veering into needy bombast. There seems to be some tension at the heart of the band’s dynamic right now, but it has inspired a meticulous, strident and euphoric sounding record.

To the uncynical, the occasional lyrical stinker doesn’t distract from what is broadly a thoroughly enjoyable collection of songs. Critical Thinking is still very much a barnstorming Manics album, a state-of-the-nation address that will have many tuning in and nodding along.

In the 90s, you’d have bet good money against the band growing older this gracefully, yet here we are with another reflective and thought-provoking set.

It couldn’t be anyone else making this record in 2025.

Rarely has ruminations on decline, in fact, sounded so vigorous. [Mar 2025, p.90]

Critical Thinking lashes out against the ills of the modern world and asks vital questions about the purpose of art and their own relevance. If that sounds heavy, it’s mostly set to some of the most uplifting music of their career, all shimmering, arpeggiated 80s indie, exultant choruses, and their take on the Big Music (Bunnymen, early Simple Minds, Waterboys) that set the teenage Manics’ hearts racing. [Jan 2025, p.100]

None of this is bad - in fact, it’s a collection of classic pop/rock songwriting - but when introduced with the kind of fanfare it is (and yes, compounded by the band’s past work), it feels safe.