Manics: 'Our new songs are really dirty'

Nicky Wire has claimed that the new Manic Street Preachers material sounds "really dirty".

The songwriter said the band were inspired to return to their roots following their recent Godlike Genius Award victory at the NME Awards.

Wire said the goodwill and positive reaction the band received forced them to make something "miserable".

He told NME: "We went home [after the awards] and James was on the phone within a day. He was saying 'What on Earth are we going to do now?'

"We just went into the studio, had a bash around and made a right old racket. It sounded good, really dirty. I think it was a typical Manics reaction - 'Let's make something miserable and dirty, just to prove we've still got it'.

"When we feel we're being loved a bit too much we have a natural tendency to think that something must be wrong, you see."

He also revealed that some of the new songs sounded like their 1994 album The Holy Bible, while others were similar to material from the late singer Elliot Smith.

The band are currently working on the follow-up to 2007's Send Away The Tigers LP with producer Dave Eringa in Cardiff.