Album
The Ultra Vivid Lament
The Ultra Vivid Lament is the fourteenth studio album by the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It came out on 10 September 2021 on Columbia Records, following 2018's Resistance Is Futile, and it was the band's next record before Critical Thinking arrived in 2025.
Two singles, "Orwellian" and "The Secret He Had Missed", were released ahead of it. Julia Cumming and Mark Lanegan both appear as guests, which gives a long-running band some fresh voices to work with. Critics received it well, and it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. For anyone who has followed the Manics since the early 1990s, it is a good place to catch up with where they had got to by the 2020s.
The Ultra Vivid Lament: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 44:37Tracklist
- 1Still Snowing in SapporoManic Street Preachers6:08
- 2OrwellianManic Street Preachers3:49
- 3The Secret He Had MissedManic Street Preachers3:39
- 4Quest for Ancient ColourManic Street Preachers4:08
- 5Don’t Let the Night Divide UsManic Street Preachers3:42
- 6DiapauseManic Street Preachers4:59
- 7Complicated IllusionsManic Street Preachers3:23
- 8Into the Waves of LoveManic Street Preachers3:10
- 9Blank Diary EntryManic Street Preachers4:38
- 10Happy Bored AloneManic Street Preachers3:09
- 11AfterendingManic Street Preachers3:52
- Produced by
- Dave Eringa, Gavin Fitzjohn
- Recorded at
- Rockfield Studios, Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales
- Recorded
- 2020–2021
- Mixed by
- Dave Eringa, David Wrench
- Engineered by
- Dave Eringa, Jack Boston, Loz Williams, Jake Faber, Tony O’Flaherty
- Label
- Columbia
- Length
- 44:37
Line-up
- James Dean Bradfield · guitar, vocals, piano
- Sean Moore · drums (drum set)
- Nicky Wire · bass
- Wayne Murray · background vocals · guest
- Cat Southall · background vocals
- Nick Nasmyth · keyboard
- Julia Cumming · lead vocals · guest
- Gavin Fitzjohn · keyboard, guitar · guest
- Bernard Kane · strings · guest
- Mark Lanegan · lead vocals · guest
Singles
- “Orwellian” · 14 May 2021
- “The Secret He Had Missed” · 16 July 2021
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2021 | 1 |
| Scottish Albums · 2021 | 1 |
| Ireland 3 · 2021 | 9 |
| German Albums · 2021 | 12 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2021 | 26 |
| Finnish Albums · 2021 | 39 |
| Swiss Albums · 2021 | 46 |
| Austrian Albums · 2021 | 47 |
| Spanish Albums · 2021 | 47 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2021 | 58 |
All 13 charts
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2021 | 62 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) · 2021 | 88 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2021 | 139 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
28.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
908
ListenBrainz listeners
15k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
1.7k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 10 September
Every year →
More from Manic Street Preachers
Full discography →
New Art Riot EP
1990
Generation Terrorists
1992
Manic Street Preachers Stars and Stripes 1992
Stars and Stripes
1992
Gold Against the Soul
1993
Manic Street Preachers Life Becoming a Landslide E.P. 1994
Life Becoming a Landslide E.P.
1994
The Holy Bible
1994
Everything Must Go
1996
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
1998
Know Your Enemy
2001
Know Our B-Sides
2001
Forever Delayed: The Greatest Hits
2002
Manic Street Preachers Forever Delayed EP 2003
Forever Delayed EP
2003
Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers
2003
Lifeblood
2004
God Save the Manics
2005
Send Away the Tigers
2007
Journal for Plague Lovers
2009
Postcards From a Young Man
2010
Postcards From a Young Man EP
2011
National Treasures: The Complete Singles
2011
Rewind the Film
2013
Anthem for a Lost Cause
2013
Walk Me to the Bridge
2014
Futurology
2014
Resistance Is Futile
2018
Sleep Next to Plastic
2022
Critical Thinking
2025
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 10 September 2021 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 10 September 2021 | |
| Wikidata | 2021 | |
| US release | 10 September 2021 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 10 September 2021 | earliest UK or European date |
9 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2021 | US | Columbia | 886449215362 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366519198 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | XW | Columbia | 886449215355 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366519204 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | XE | Columbia | 194398954325 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | XE | Columbia | 194398954318 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | XE | Columbia | 194398954424 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | US | Columbia | 886449215355 | original |
| 10 September 2021 | AF | Columbia | 886449215362 | original |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 1800x1800
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1800×1800 | native: native 1800x1800 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |