Maximo Park 'Quicken the Heart' album

In the spring, Maximo Park are back with their third album, "Quicken the Heart". And rarely has a record been so aptly named. For a band that has achieved so much, Maximo Park are constantly pushing ever onwards and upwards, darting off in new directions and exploring new dimensions of their sound, with this record being the latest proof. Recorded and produced in LA by Nick Launay (who has also worked with luminaries such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Cave and Talking Heads among others), "Quicken the Heart" is yet another astonishing step forward for the band, and a testament to just how far they have come since the early days. If they were reaching for the stars on previous records, here they are reaching for the heavens, building a skyscraping monument of dreamy synths, galvanising rock and roll and buoyant pop. One of the only bands to avoid the laddish cliches of the age, they have maintained their assault on the mainstream whilst retaining every ounce of their independence. Being on an independent label, they have been allowed the time and space to craft an album of ingenious hooks and memorable lyrics that search for romance in everyday life.

"Wraithlike" gets the album off to a jolting start, with Paul Smith's soaring vocals underpinned by a bedrock of grittier instrumentation (courtesy of guitarist Duncan Lloyd, bassist Archis Tiku, keyboardist Lukas Wooller and drummer Tom English, all in looser, more spontaneous form than before). From then on it is a fast and furious ride, the band locked into a sound that is at once more urgent, vigorous and yet more lush and accomplished than ever before. The simply gorgeous, densely layered "Roller Disco Dreams" lives up to its title quite spectacularly, while "A Cloud of Mystery" shows off what Smith and company do so well - wedding achingly lovelorn, eloquently poetic lyrics to casually infectious tunes. But it is with the rousing "The Kids Are Sick Again" that Maximo Park may have just hit upon one of those mythical immortal anthems: a full-blooded, heart-swelling rallying cry against the stifling conformity and normalcy of modern society that will have grown men pumping fists into the air and kids rushing en masse to the dancefloor/ streets/ etc when its opening strains are heard the world over.

This is another milestone for Maximo Park, and we are talking milestones here, not merely achievements. Their first album "A Certain Trigger" was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Their second, "Our Earthly Pleasures" hit Number 2 in the UK charts. They sold 12,000 tickets for their legendary show at the Newcastle Arena in 2007 (stunning footage of which can be viewed on the special edition of the album), and not only repeated that feat this year when their new UK dates were announced, but bested them: Two Newcastle Academy sold out in 10 minutes, the Leeds and Manchester shows sold out in less than 30 minutes and all 4,900 tickets for Brixton Academy went within 60 minutes; proof positive that the band are clasped close to the nation's hearts indeed. "Quicken the Heart" is an astounding step in the evolution for one of Britain's best-loved bands, at once a consolidation of their brilliance and the perfect synthesis of innovation and dynamism. A milestone, indeed.

Maximo Park tour dates
MAY
13 NEWCASTLE Academy - SOLD OUT
14 NEWCASTLE - Academy - SOLD OUT
15 GLASGOW - Academy - SOLD OUT
16 LIVERPOOL - University - SOLD OUT
18 SOUTHAMPTON - Guildhall - SOLD OUT
19 BIRMINGHAM - Academy - SOLD OUT
20 NOTTINGHAM - Rock City - SOLD OUT
22 LEEDS - Academy - SOLD OUT
23 MANCHESTER - Academy - SOLD OUT
24 NORWICH - UEA - SOLD OUT
26 LONDON - Brixton Academy - last few tickets £17.50
27 LONDON - Brixton Academy - SOLD OUT
28 BRISTOL - Academy - SOLD OUT

JULY
10 T IN THE PARK

Maximo Park biography
Ever since their inception, few bands have enjoyed as swift and meteoric a rise to the top as Maximo Park.

In 2005, their Paul Epworth-produced debut “A Certain Trigger” was released to unanimous acclaim, hitting #15 in the UK album charts and scooping a Mercury Music Prize nomination in the process.

Any other band would find a banner year like that a hard act to follow; but in 2007 they outdid even themselves, with their second album “Our Earthly Pleasures” rocketing to #2 in the UK album charts and the lead single “Our Velocity” ending up a bona fide classic and top 10 smash.

Their particular brand of art rock – jagged yet melodic, punky yet pop, intelligent yet wildly infectious – captured the hearts and minds of people across the globe and the band capped off their last tour with a glorious, sold out Newcastle Arena show for 12,000 people, with their support being none other than the legendary Buzzcocks.

Now, get ready for Maximo Park to up the ante once again. The band have been locked away in Los Angeles with Nick Launay, famed for his production duties on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Talking Heads and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, to create a record which pushes the boundaries of the Maximo Park sound, this time adding more “extreme” synthesisers and “dreamier” guitars to produce something far different from anything they’ve ever done before. With the finishing touches just being put on the record, the band are also embarking on a string of sure-to-be-incendiary live performances around the country, their first UK dates since 2007. Support comes from Noisettes and Stricken City (except Newcastle and Glasgow for the latter).

“We're raring to go, especially since we've just crafted a record that's imbued with the kind of uplifting spirit that Britain's crying out for in these troubled economic times. Our audience are far from passive, which makes for a unique atmosphere at each show”. Paul Smith

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Maximo Park - Quicken the Heart