It’s ... a rich, passionate and clever album that, even if it ends up being underrated, deserves full attention and praise.
Maxïmo Park remain unabashedly heartfelt, and by staying true to this on Nature Always Wins, they deliver some of their finest songs in a while.
Nature Always Wins is an album that not only ticks all the boxes that steadfast Maximo fans will be looking for (hooks, melodies, sing-along choruses) but it refreshingly shows an awareness of growing older and reflects on the changing priorities that most of us who were with them back in the mid-noughties are now also experiencing.
A band whose early commercial ubiquity shouldn’t obscure the continued creative vitality of their work, Maximo Park open a fresh era with some of their finest work in a decade.
Nature Always Wins is an ambitious album. From the understated "Meeting Up" to the sprawling and off-kilter closing number "Child of the Flatlands", it’s the sound of Maximo Park not so much maturing, as it is them evolving.
Together with the slimmed down line-up, Nature Always Wins feels like the start of a new chapter for Maxïmo Park. They’ve always been better than a ‘landfill indie’ punchline, and they prove it in spades on their seventh album.
There’s no upturning of the band’s musical blueprint, but their social conscience has earned them a third act.
Maxïmo Park - Nature always wins
Genre: Indie Rock
Country: UK
Final Verdict: 59% (Pleasant Album)
Yearly Ranking: 458th / 802
Highlight: Ardour
Made me think of:
The Courteeners
Kaiser Chiefs
Car Seat Headrest
‘Why must a building burn before the lesson is learned?’
Ah Maxïmo Park, the last time I've heard about them they were featured in Vice's notorious list of so-called "Indie Landfill".
Granted, their are some average albums along the way, will their seventh album Nature Always Wins follow this trend?
Its safe to say their indie identity is still intact, but unlike their last 2 albums (I actually enjoyed The National Health), this is their most revamped album, ... read more
I thought I was not gonna enjoy it as much because of the first track but as the album progressed, I actually found myself liking it.
A trusted festival band released just in time for the probable festival season. Fair play to MP who would have expected them to still be making new music in 2021, and a few of these songs will slot in well on those festival appearances. I had to look up the word ‘luminosity’, never heard that in an indie song before. They have a very clear song structure that is almost universally followed; slow start, and then build up the excitement to the end – I don’t remember this ... read more
Pretty average, has potential but plays so safe, last two tracks are the strongest which is unfortunate
Standouts: Feelings I'm Supposed To Feel, Child of the Flatlands
Dropouts: Baby, Sleep, , Meeting Up, Why Must a Building Burn?, I Don't Know What I'm Doing
Excelente álbum, me gusta la mayoría de canciones, supero mis expectativas.
Excellent album, I like most of the songs, they exceed my expectations.
1 | Partly of My Making 4:03 | |
2 | Versions of You 4:37 | |
3 | Baby, Sleep 3:13 | 90 |
4 | Placeholder 2:48 | |
5 | All of Me 3:41 | |
6 | Ardour 3:17 feat. Pauline Murray | |
7 | Meeting Up 3:51 | |
8 | Why Must a Building Burn? 3:02 | |
9 | I Don't Know What I'm Doing 2:50 | |
10 | The Acid Remark 3:32 | |
11 | Feelings I'm Supposed To Feel 4:25 | |
12 | Child of the Flatlands 5:16 |
#25 | / | Good Morning America |
#97 | / | RIFF |