Indie rock outfit Maxïmo Park have announced their forthcoming album, Stream of Life, set to arrive on September 27th via Lower Third (pre-order here). To mark the occasion, the band has dropped the album’s lead single, ‘Your Own Worst Enemy‘.
Inspired by the 1973 short story “Água Viva (Stream of Life)” by Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector, frontman Paul Smith chose the name for the new album to prompt reflection on the inner workings of the human mind. He explains that the title raises questions as to why people’s actions can seem counterintuitive to outside observers, as each individual has an internal flow – a unique “stream of life.”
For their eighth studio album, the band reunited with two acclaimed producers – Ben Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective), the Grammy-winning producer behind 2021’s UK #2 hit Nature Always Wins, and Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin, Sports Team). This marked the first time they have all been together in a studio to make an album since 2016.
Commenting on the album as a whole, Smith says: “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. It was great to be back in a studio after recording remotely last time. Working with Ben in Atlanta, and Burke in Byker, was as stimulating as it’s ever been, and I think we captured that energy. Thematically, the record covers passion, politics, and privilege amongst other topics.”
In terms of the new single, Smith added: “’Your Own Worst Enemy’ 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.”
In support of their imminent new album release, the band has also announced a series of UK and EU headline tour dates for October and November, with all tickets now available for purchase here.
