My Manics collection has long trailed off. I still buy the albums, but I've not sought out the singles for any of the more recent stuff like I used to back in the day. I have a scattering of singles from the last few albums and Autumnsong is one of them. My local HMV had a deal on where you could buy all three versions (7" and two cds) for £4.50 and the dormant collector in me couldn't resist.
Autumnsong is from the album Send Away the Tigers, which was (thankfully) more of a rock record than Lifeblood which came before it. Despite the Holy-Bible-era backwards R's, it would still be a few albums before the Manics but out anything as interesting and different as their first four records. Postcards From a Young Man was surprisingly excellent, and the new single has given me high hopes for LP #11. Autumnsong was some promising guitar bits, but still doesn't quite reach the heights of some of the Manics best singles.
Most interesting though is the b-side, which I'm pretty sure must be one of the very few instrumental Manics songs out there. I'm struggling to think of any at all, and I'm familiar with an awful lot of Manics songs. (A quick search tells me that the only other one in my collection is Horses Under Starlight, a b-side to Kevin Carter). All in all, an unexpectedly great song, which I'd totally forgotten about until now.
Format: 7"
Tracks: 2
Cost: £1.50 new
Bought: HMV Winchester
When: 23/07/07
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
