Wire: 'No-one writes lyrics like Richey'

Nicky Wire has explained why Manic Street Preachers used lyrics from missing guitarist Richey James Edwards on their upcoming album Journal For Plague Lovers.

The bass player told XFM that the band decided to look at the lyrics left to them by Edwards after the success of previous LP Send Away The Tigers which reaffirmed their status as "a great rock band".

Wire said: "I just forgot how much I am a fan of his lyrics, and you don't get lyrics like that written by anyone today.

"There's an element of them being a time capsule, certain references - Steven Hawking and Jackie Collins and stuff like that - but I think Richey's genius is that he resonates through the universe; through the decades."

He added: "I was a fan of him as a lyric writer and as a friend. It just feels like a privilege and a pleasure to be using his words - and a unique situation.

"When we got the Godlike Geniuses award from the NME, that was for the four of us, not the three of us. It felt like we were making that even more clear by doing this."