Manic Street Preachers will release two different singles on the same day, NME can exclusively reveal.
The Welsh three-piece will release 'So Why So Sad' and 'Found That Soul', on March 5. Both songs are on the Manics' sixth LP, 'Know Your Enemy', to be released on March 26 through Epic/Sony. B-sides for the singles are still to be confirmed.
The band's decision to return with two singles on the same day is believed to be unprecedented in the modern chart era. The Manics' spokeswoman told NME: "As far as major chart single releases go - no, it's never been done before."
The dual single release does echo Guns N'Roses' release of two double albums - 'Use Your Illusion I' and 'Use Your Illusion II' - on the same day in May 1991. Both Nicky Wire and James Dean
Bradfield are known to be fans of Guns N'Roses.
'The Masses Against The Classes', the Manics' last single, went straight in at Number One in January last year. Now there is speculation as to whether they can secure both the Number One and Number Two position in the same week with 'So Why So Sad' and 'Found That Soul'.
"You can only ever hope," said the spokeswoman. "The songs are completely different but it's a shame; having heard them, they could both be Number Ones." New songs from 'Know Your Enemy' will get their first airing on February 17 at the 5,000-capacity Karl Marx Theatre, Havana. Speaking in this week's NME, Nicky Wire commented: "The album we've made sounds like we've listened to our old records a lot and realised where we got our original inspiration from."
Singer James Dean Bradfield recently admitted to fears that a "Yankaphilic" media will give the new material a hard time. "We've always had the fear and that's almost made us retaliate in kind,"
he told Radio 1. "l think we work better when we feel a bit scared."
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