SOUND JUDGEMENT

The latest album releases reviewed

THE ULTRA VIVID LAMENT

MANIC STREET PREACHERS

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The songs on this

14th studio album from Manic Street Preachers stick to the template laid down on 1996’s Everything Must Go, and will suit being played at arenas on their autumn tour.

That doesn’t mean they lack variety, with radio-friendly single The Secret He Had Missed – which features vocals from Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean, Orwellian and Afterending showing a clear Abba influence.

Other songs address politics, with a pop at the UK Government on Don’t Let The Night Divide Us, which warns: “Don’t let those boys from Eton suggest that we are beaten.”

SENJUTSU IRON MAIDEN

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Seventeen albums in, Iron Maiden are arguably the most consistent proponents of British heavy metal.

Their recent success, as the core members settle into their mid-60s, can be attributed to a deft balance between experimentation and knowing exactly what their substantial fanbase wants.

Double album Senjutsu hits that sweet spot with ease.

Side one contains a six-song suite of galloping metal, sometimes edging into power ballad territory. Side two, meanwhile, features four sprawling tracks, including the nearly 13-minute long The Parchment, a beast that slowly builds into a mass of squealing guitars.

THE WITNESS SUUNS HHHII

The Witness is undoubtedly the most chilled-out and reflective album to emerge from the Suuns camp in their decade recording together.

It listens like one long, undulating song, transitioning from Pink Floyd-esque psychedelia to the trance-pop of fellow Canadian star Caribou, ending with spacey wig-outs Go To My Head and The Trilogy.

It could be argued that previous Suuns records have prioritised aesthetics over feeling. The Witness finds a comfortable balance between the two.