Maxïmo Park releases new single from upcoming album Stream of Life

British rock band Maxïmo Park has released a new single titled The End Can Be As Good As the Start, taken from their upcoming album Stream of Life, scheduled for release on 27^th September 2024 via Lower Third. This latest track follows their previous release, Your Own Worst Enemy, and continues to explore themes of human error and societal challenges.

Lead singer Paul Smith describes the new single as “an exuberant New Wave-y alt-pop-rocker about faith, solidarity and sustaining relationships in the face of society’s structural hurdles”.

Stream of Life marks the first time since 2016 that the band has been together in the studio to record an album. The collaboration includes Grammy-winning producer Ben Allen, known for his work on the band’s 2021 UK number two charting album Nature Always Wins, and producer Burke Reid, who has worked with artists like Courtney Barnett and Julia Jacklin.

The album draws inspiration from a short story by Ukrainian-born Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, reflecting a stream-of-consciousness style and prompting introspection about why people act counterintuitively to outsiders. This theme resonates throughout the album, particularly in the single Your Own Worst Enemy, which Smith says 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”.

Smith also shared insights into the overall themes of the album, noting, “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 added that the album covers a range of topics including “passion, politics and privilege”.

Stream of Life includes a diverse tracklist with songs such as Your Own Worst Enemy, Dormant ‘Til Explosion featuring Vanessa Briscoe Hay, and No Such Thing as a Society, among others. The album promises to be a reflective and dynamic addition to Maxïmo Park’s discography.

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Image: Moja

Stream of Life is released on 27^th September 2024. For further information or to order the album visit Maxïmo Park’s website here.

Watch the video for the single The End Can Be As Good As the Start here: