In the Post #88: Maximo Park – The National Health

In the last 3 years since 2009’s ‘Quicken the Heart’, Maximo Park had been relatively quiet. While they were on this self-imposed hiatus, lead singer Paul Smith (pictured above) put out a solo album, ‘Margins’, as well as a photography book. In 2012, Maximo returns with a bright pink coloured album entitled ‘The National Health’, and the title track is our first taster of the new material.
With a relentless speed, banging guitars and piano pair with Smith’s mouth getting a workout in an insistence that “many things will change tomorrow”. At first, I thought they were referring to the NHS, but it appears to be more of a commentary on (and possible indictment?) of the way our very existence is changing and crumbling. The energy of the track cannot be ignored; for sure, this song will be a great showcase for the band in live performance, including their headline performance at Brighton Dome for the Great Escape this year on Thursday the 10th of May.
7/10
Below is a stream of the song ‘The National Health’ and a video the band has provided as an behind the scenes look at the recording of their long-awaited return album, to be released on the 11th of June.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHxYNK2ugGg[/youtube]
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