The songwriting duo of Andy Hull and Robert McDowell have always utilised their real life experiences as the spark for their work together as Manchester Orchestra but, fifth time around, they were struggling to find the right spark of inspiration. Their lives were increasingly content and stable (with Hull now a father for the first time), and it was clear that they needed to explore new avenues in order to keep pushing themselves forward. At a perfect moment in time, the opportunity to soundtrack the movie Swiss Army Man came to them, and they were presented with the chance to inject something different into their writing style. Instructed by the directors to forego instruments, they were forced to break away from their traditional style and challenge their own instincts. The film itself, starring Daniel Radcliffe, became a cult hit and the experience has clearly lit a fire under the band. Removing themselves away to a remote cabin, work began on a new album under producer Catherine Marks (Foals, The Killers, PJ Harvey). The results are simply astonishing.

A Black Mile To The Surface begins with ‘The Maze’, Hull’s voice coming out of a melancholy darkness, accompanied solely by a slight guitar strum before being slowly joined by piano. This track is certain to grace stadium arenas around the world one day, with beautiful harmonies singing: “There is nothing I’ve got when I die that I’ll keep”, before what seems like a child’s toy plays as an outro. Lyrically, it begins a theme about new parenthood but, in the first of a series of story-telling twists, appears to be from the child’s perspective. Each track on this album contains threads of an over-arching story, and all intertwine to produce something with real substance and emotional heft. ‘The Gold’ and ‘The Moth’ allude to an underground mine, but are also allegories for the decompression of tour life and being repeatedly drawn back, almost unwillingly, to a certain situation or relationship. Cinematic themes are beautifully captured with single lines and, like the thematic mine itself, each song has many layers and hidden depths. Even the titles represent chapters of a book and as timelines cross on a story about an ‘incident’ at a grocery store, it becomes a genuinely fascinating and moving piece of work.

Despite the cerebral nature of the songwriting, it is far from being too clever for its own good and stands up musically as one of the finest rock records for many years. It is noticeably less heavy than their previous work, yet also manages to somehow be bigger in scale – only a handful of tracks contain their trademark crunching guitar riffs, but the impact when they arrive is much greater. ‘The Wolf’ in particular sounds massive, with drums flooding into the track and a rising crescendo with the nearest thing to a guitar solo that the album has at the heart of the finale. Every listen reveals more detail, both lyrically and instrumentally, as each song has its own personality yet fits perfectly into the greater whole. In that regard, Marks’ desire that each track sounded like a different room sonically is perfectly delivered. Every instrumental choice is perfectly judged, and adds to the overall mood. Meanwhile, the emotional impact of a simple repetition of “Do you need me?” in ‘The Alien’ hits like a sledgehammer, with hairs on the arms being raised further every time. This is music with a brain and a heart, and it uses them both to perfection. Singing “I don’t wanna walk away from you” on ‘The Mistake’, there are moments of pure joy before the truly beautiful love song ‘The Parts’, another track sure to bring tears to the hardest heart. Five stars, ten out of ten, 100% – however you want to describe it, this album is as close to perfection as you can get. Simply stunning.

Jamie MacMillan

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