William's Last Words

Journal for Plague Lovers cover art

In the age before my disposable income, a visit to the local record shop involved lengthy deliberation on which CD I really wanted to justify handing over a massive £10 of pocket money. The problem here was that the price of a CD limited how much you could purchase from decades of musical output. This is why it took so long for me to acquire The Holy Bible (henceforth THB). As a recent newcomer to the Manic Street Preachers, I set out with the money from my 13th birthday to buy their then previous album, Everything Must Go (hf. EMG), only to encounter THB in every shop. At the time I was uninterested and largely unaware of its legendary status - my first encounter with it was actually the title chiselled into a table in the school's music department. Naturally when I tried to find THB, all I could find was EMG - which I eventually got for my 16th.

After Know Your Enemy (which I thought was quite good) in 2001, I lost track and perhaps interest in the Manic Street Preachers. I bought Lifeblood well after it came out and never really loved it. It's alright, but the sleepy tendencies of This Is My Truth... are apparent. I completely skipped Send Away The Tigers. So I would never have heard of their new album Journal For Plague Lovers (hf. JFPL) had it not been for the ridiculous panic over the cover art. When I read the premise of the album, I immediately pre-ordered on Amazon. I haven't bought a new album since Elephant over 6 years ago.

JFPL has been consistently hailed as The Holy Bible 2, which I think is a misnomer. THB was characterised by wiry post-punk guitars, disturbing stream-of-conscious lyrics, and claustrophic mixing. These do not define JFPL. There are tracks that recall the energy and sound ('Peeled Apples', 'All is Vanity', 'Bag Lady'), but I think the album recalls EMG more (strings, title track, 'Virginia State Epileptic Colony', the acoustic tracks).

THB has been analysed as the final words of Richey before his disappearance, and the themes on his final album suggest a fragile state of mind. However, the 13 tracks on JFPL along with 4 from EMG are his actual last works. Though that includes downers like 'Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky', you'll not find an 'Archives of Pain' or 'The Intense Humming of Evil'. That should force a reevaluation of his mindset, but be careful no to fall into the trap of reading 'William's Last Words' literally - which is a beautiful song. Wire's voice can be quite grating, but here his voice seems suitably on the edge of breaking.

With the minor gripe about 'Bag Lady' relegated to a bonus track, I do enjoy this album. It's obviously not a commercially-minded album, hence the lack of singles, nor is it an album for introducing people to the Manics. It balances fan-service with a desire to reach closure on Richey's legacy.

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