Maxïmo Park have announced their new album ‘Stream Of Life’, and have shared the new single ‘Your Own Worst Enemy’ – listen below.
It will be the Newcastle band’s eighth studio record and will be released on September 27 via Lower Third. The LP marks the group’s first fully collaborative album since 2017’s ‘Risk to Exist’ (excepting the COVID-era ‘Nature Always Wins’ in 2021). It is produced by Ben Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective) and Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Sports Team). Pre-order the album here.
Speaking about the new single, frontman Paul Smith has said: “‘Your Own Worst Enemy’ has a different feel to anything we’ve done before – loose and lean, yet still rocking! It’s about that horrible feeling where you suddenly realise you’ve made a familiar error, and also the lies we tell each other on a daily basis to avoid confrontation or turmoil.”
Listen to the song below:
Smith has also commented on the album. “We’ve always tried to document the world around us at each stage of our lives while subtly nudging the music forward each time – this record continues that mission,” he said.
“It was great to be back in a studio after recording remotely last time. Working with Ben in Atlanta, and Burke in Byker, was as stimulating as it’s ever been, and I think we captured that energy. Thematically, the record covers passion, politics, and privilege amongst other topics.”
In March, the band released the first song from the album, ‘Favourite Songs’, their first new material in over 18 months. Smith addressed the camera directly in the black-and-white video, with swirling visuals of the city around him. Watch it below:
“Our aim was to create a peppy yet powerful ode to the consolation of music and companionship in the face of other people’s preconceptions,” Smith explained of the inspiration behind the song.
At the same time, the band announced details of a UK and European tour to take place in the autumn. The open in Dublin’s Academy on October 8, followed by a follow-up slot at the Limelight 2 venue in Belfast the following night.
From there, UK shows include slots in Norwich, Edinburgh, Leeds, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle, as well as two headline shows at the Islington Assembly Hall in London on October 18 and 19.
The band then head over to Amsterdam on November 4 to launch their remaining European dates. Taking part through the first half of the month, the dates comprise nine shows – including gigs in Paris, Cologne, Copenhagen, Berlin, Munich and more. Get your tickets here.
Maxïmo Park will play:
OCTOBER
8 – Academy, Dublin, IE
9 – Limelight 2, Belfast, NI
11 – Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, UK
12 – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK
13 – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK
15 – Beckett Students’ Union, Leeds, UK
16 – Waterfront, Norwich, UK
18 – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
19 – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
20 – Concorde 2, Brighton, UK
22 – Trinity, Bristol, UK
23 – Town Hall, Birmingham, UK
24 – Leadmill, Sheffield, UK
26 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, UK
27 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, UK
NOVEMBER
4 – Melkweg Oz, Amsterdam, NL
5 – Point Ephémère, Paris, FR
6 – Stollwerck, Cologne, DE
8 – Markthalle, Hamburg, DE
9 – VEGA, Copenhagen, DK
10 – Metropol, Berlin, DE
12 – Exil, Zurich, CH
13 – Technikum. Munich, DE
14 – Substage, Karlsruhe, DE
It was also confirmed earlier this year that the band would be joining The Kooks for their huge show at Brighton Beach on July 21, alongside performances from Sea Girls and Kate Nash.
