Maxïmo Park have shared their new single All Of Me, which is lifted from their upcoming album ‘Nature Always Wins’ (out Feb 26). All Of Me is the follow-up to the album’s powerhouse lead single Baby, Sleep – which spent four weeks on the BBC 6 Music A-List – and the recent giddy, urgent standalone track I Don’t Know What I’m Doing. All Of Me comes to exemplify the approach that Grammy-winning producer Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Deer Hunter) instilled into the recording process. Making use of the quiet and the space, it unfolds into an expansive offering to match their most widescreen outings. Lead singer Paul Smith details the song:
“It’s a love song about the power of song itself, buoyed by the uplifting music in the chorus. It’s also about domesticity and family life being valid subject matter for a pop song. The more intimate verses are bits of advice to someone who has changed your perspective on life. Big themes!”
Of the accompanying video he continues: “Both the quiet verses and the anthemic choruses are reflected (pun intended) in the video, which was influenced by an intimate film of Arthur Russell playing cello, as well as Bruce Lee flighting within a hall of mirrors in Enter The Dragon!”
Listen to All Of Me here and watch the video via YouTube below.
The band also play a run of album launch shows which will kick off in February, in conjunction with some of the country’s best-loved record stores. Tickets are on sale now here. Full dates below.
Fri 25 Feb – Kingston – Pryzm – with Banquet (soc. distanced)
Fri 25 Feb – Kingston – Pryzm – with Banquet (soc. distanced)
Fri 26 Feb – Kingston – Pryzm – with Banquet (soc. distanced) – SOLD OUT
Fri 26 Feb – Kingston – Pryzm – with Banquet (soc. distanced) – SOLD OUT
Sat 27 Feb – Newcastle – Tyne Theatre (soc. distanced)
Sat 27 Feb – Newcastle – Tyne Theatre (soc. distanced) – SOLD OUT
Tue 24 Aug – Dundee – Fat Sam’s – with Assai Records
Wed 25 Aug – Edinburgh – The Liquid Room – with Assai Records
Sat 28 Aug – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club – with Crash Records
Sun 29 Aug – Preston – Blitz – with Action Records
Mon 30 Aug – Liverpool – The Arts Club – with Jacaranda Records
Wed 01 Sept – Coventry – The Empire – with HMV
Thur 02 Sept -Oxford – O2 Academy2 Oxford – with Truck Store
Fri 3rd Sept – The Brook – Southampton – with Vinilo
Sun 05 Sept – Bexhill – De La Warr Pavilion – with Music’s Not Dead
Mon 06 Sept – Norwich – The Waterfront – with HMV
Headline UK tour dates are as follows and on sale here.
Tues 8th June – Bristol, Trinity
Weds 9th June – London, EartH – SOLD OUT
Thurs 10th June – London, EartH
Sat 12th June – Manchester, O2 Ritz
Sun 13th June – Newcastle, Boiler Shop – SOLD OUT
Tues 15th June – Sheffield, The Leadmill
Weds 16th June – Glasgow, Saint Lukes
Thurs 17th June – Birmingham, The Mill
More about new album ‘Nature Always Wins’?
‘Nature Always Wins’ arrives as something of an examination, zeroing in on the notion of the self, identity as a band, and that of humanity as a whole. The album’s title nods to the famous Nature vs Nurture debate. Discussing whether change is capable under the influence of time, perspective, environment or if we are destined to be bound by our own genetics, it asks, “who are we, who do we want to be, and do we have any control over it?”.
Refining their approach as a three-piece, writing began last summer with Smith, Lloyd and English seeking a different kind of fourth member – a producer who was also a musician. Fitting the bill came Atlanta-based Grammy-winning producer Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Deerhunter) who afforded the band freedom to play and create. What wasn’t anticipated was how that freedom would be soon be stripped, as Lockdown restrictions left the band making the most of technological advances to perform real-time recording sessions across the ocean – themselves in Newcastle and Liverpool, with Allen at the helm in Atlanta.
‘Nature Always Wins’ track listing
1. Partly Of My Making
2. Versions Of You
3. Baby, Sleep
4. Placeholder
5. All Of Me
6. Ardour (featuring Pauline Murray)
7. Meeting Up
8. Why Must A Building Burn
9. I Don’t Know What I’m Doing
10. The Acid Remark
11. Feelings I’m Supposed To Feel
12. Child Of The Flatlands
