Maximo Park back with their first full studio album in almost 4 years since their release Nature always wins. It’s been almost 16 years since Maximo Park released her stunning, Mercury-nominated debut album, A certain trigger, with this being their latest album marking their seventh studio album to date. The Newcastle and Liverpool-based band have been busy during the lockdown perfecting their new album with the help of Grammy Award winner Ben Allen, the group’s new “fourth member”.
Of the twelve tracks on the album, four were released as singles; the album’s ending song, The child of the flat land, the sleep of a child and I don’t know what I’m doing from September onward last year and as recently as this year, My everything. The twelve selected songs were chosen from forty songs that the band had been tasked with writing by their chosen producer. Duncan Lloyd explains, “we did everything from Why burn a building?, based on the sound, until Meeting, based on synths. We can go electronic, we can pioneer. And that got us on the right track where we finally settled. “
Partly made by me is the opening track from Maximo Park’s latest album and is seen as a fitting introduction to an album that has real resonance and energy about it. This is not the most commercial or instant song out of the above Nature always wins, which is more aptly featured in the band’s current single, My everything, but it encapsulates the latest incarnation of the Maximo Park sound. Powerful melodies and lyricism are still present throughout the record, but more than any of their recent albums, this album has an undeniable and undeniable desire for to life. Paul Smith’s vocals are clearer than ever with clarity in the production that allows each component part to shine.
Maximo Park continues to provide a lot of social commentary in their songs, from the lead single and the ending track, Child of the flat land with a superb guitar solo and a more melancholy vocal treatment through the reflective flashback of the charming man, Your versions. The story unfolds Nature always wins is one of the best that Maximo Park has ever delivered.
There is a vibrancy in each of the above songs Nature always wins from the pumping rhythm, sing of Paceholder, Nostalgic Post-Punk of Comments on acids, with shredded guitar riffs, for scored electronic-based compilations Meeting. Smith adjusted his voice deftly to the situations each song presented, and Allen, despite being 4,000 miles away most of the time, did a very deft job of harmonizing and Arrange each song together.
There’s empathy and tenderness along with a spirited, energetic performance on Maximo Park’s new album but above all there’s something undeniably vigor and vitality that makes it a record. irresistible continent.
