{"id":29061,"date":"2025-04-18T02:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/29061\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T02:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:11:11","slug":"weve-muzzled-young-generations-they-get-endlessly-told-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/29061\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve muzzled young generations \u2013 they get endlessly told off"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Manic Street Preachers<\/a> kick off their 2025 UK tour, check out part two of our interview with the band where they discuss politics, \u201990s nostalgia, and how culture has \u201cmuzzled\u201d the freedom of new generations of artists.<\/p>\n

Last week saw the band play the first date of their UK tour in Glasgow in support of their acclaimed 15th album \u2018Critical Thinking\u2019<\/a>. Speaking to NME before the record\u2019s release, bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire<\/a> spoke of how there was \u201csomething about buying into a band and an aesthetic\u201d of \u201ctimeless\u201d acts like Oasis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople still search back in this age of instant everything to have that feeling of freedom that they represent of not giving a fuck,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s deeply admirable; that sense of \u2018We are the greatest\u2019. I get so bored with the sense of endless humility and, \u2018Oh it\u2019s such a privilege to be playing in front of you, I\u2019m so humble to be doing this\u2019. David Bowie<\/a> never went on stage and said, \u2018I\u2019m so humbled to be here tonight\u2019. That kind of attitude never existed when we were young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ManicManic Street Preachers\u2019 Nicky Wire live at Glastonbury 2023. Credit: Andy Ford for NME<\/p>\n

The bassist and lyricist said that he thought a certain meekness had arisen through a culture of constant judgment with no room for error.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve muzzled young generations,\u201d he told NME. \u201cThey get endlessly told off. That sense of freedom has been kicked out of them, so you often retreat to these empty platitudes at times. There\u2019s always someone kicking against the pricks and putting it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing to a declining music industry<\/a> and an overwhelming impetus on social media, the rock veteran said that young artists \u201chave to do so much extra work while we were just allowed to focus on being in a band\u201d and that \u201cthe amount of shadow work you have to do as an artist now is fucking unbelievable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a shortage of good bands or bands with attitude; it\u2019s just that cutting through is the hardest thing,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt was much easier for us to cut through: music press, Radio One, Top Of The Pops \u2013\u00a0job done. Now the pressure is on. We have to let young people make mistakes and not endlessly judge them. The young generations need the space that we had to make so many fuck-ups. \u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers at Alexandra Palace on July 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Baker\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Looking back to the \u201990s when the Manics released their debut album \u2018Generation Terrorists\u2019 and later bothered the mainstream with the likes of \u2018A Design For Life\u2019 and \u2018If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next\u2019 as a stadium indie act, frontman James Dean Bradfield<\/a> looked upon it as a markedly different landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe come from quite an important era, and that means something to me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an era that people might not recognise now, and if I try to describe how much music ruled people\u2019s lives \u2013 especially after 1995-1996.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to hear a big echo of it again. Oasis are the band who made the world sing. I was in a choir until I was 15 years old, so I like to hear people singing. They\u2019re a band that transcend their own time.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Manics going strong since 1986 without splitting or going on hiatus, Bradfield told NME that they felt like outliers from their era.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always seen all these bands split up and get back together, split up and get back together and sometimes split up and get back together again!\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re always slightly wry observers of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritpop was funny because we rode the wave of it, but we were around before it and never had anything against it. Some great songs came out of it and we enjoyed our time there. \u2018The Holy Bible\u2019 [1994], \u2018Gold Against The Soul\u2019 [1993] and \u2018Generation Terrorists\u2019\u00a0 [1992] were not Britpop. We\u2019ve lived through all these periods: Seattle, Britpop, the \u201800s, we\u2019ve been there. The one thing I take away from it, especially these Oasis [reunion] shows, is that we came from a time when music just dominated the landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

A defining aspect of the Manics\u2019 character that helped stand out among a wave of Britpop was their often glam-punk and military aesthetic and knack for blending art and literary references into their work alongside a fierce stance on politics. Looking at the state of the world today, Bradfield said that it was grim but ripe for young artists to be writing about.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ability to eat ourselves alive\u2026,\u201d he noted about politics in 2025. \u201cIf there was one time when we didn\u2019t need Trump<\/a> to have a better playbook than Kamala Harris<\/a>, it was now. He still outplayed them, and we can\u2019t deny that. It\u2019s upsetting that his playbook is better than the Democrats\u2019, and it just shouldn\u2019t happen. The stakes were too high. There\u2019s enough material there for a generation to be getting on with, isn\u2019t there?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s upsetting to be where we are, but to realise that they were smarter \u2013 you\u2019ve really got to do something about it. Especially after two terms of Obama. He was a politician, seasoned in Chicago. Chicago politicians are really hard-nosed bastards; it\u2019s not a soft political scene there. He wasn\u2019t the type of person that would always speak to the higher angels of our being. Sometimes he would be quite nasty, especially the second time around. There was a bit too much of that fake evangelical-ising from the Democrats this time: saying, \u2018They go low, we go high\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to fucking go to battle, and they didn\u2019t go hard enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning his attention to the UK, he urged caution over writing off Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour government just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the opposition is looking shaky enough to not have to put your foot to the pedal, that\u2019s a valid way to govern,\u201d he said. \u201cJust keep going steady until you realise the opposition are ready to fight. Kemi Badenoch, if she\u2019s looking at her internal polling numbers and those of the public, then they\u2019re in a natural third position at the moment. If you\u2019re Keir Starmer, you don\u2019t have to worry about them for now, and can just see the lay of the land and get things done quietly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Ideas around digital hysteria and the rise of \u201ctech bros\u201d have been present in Manics\u2019 songs for some years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround \u2018Postcards From A Young Man\u2019 [2010], I did bore the shit out of people going on about songs like \u2018A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun\u2019 and \u2018Don\u2019t Be Evil\u2019,\u201d Wire told NME. \u201c[\u2018Don\u2019t Be Evil\u2019] was the famous Google quote that they\u2019d have in their offices!\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of how this shaped the lyrics of the title track \u2018Critical Thinking\u2019, he continued: \u201cAll the endless corporate platitudes that go with all these things: smart metres, smart water, smart motorways \u2013 this idea of putting \u2018smart\u2019 in front of anything suddenly elevating it to being really clever is just fucking insane! What the fuck are you saying to me?\u201d<\/p>\n