Maxïmo Park release new single 'Child Of The Flatlands' | NME

Maxïmo Park have returned with their first new music in over two years, ‘Child Of The Flatlands.’

The track follows the band’s 2019 in-studio live album, ‘As Long As We Keep Moving,’ and 2018’s stand-alone single ‘North By North East.’

Its accompanying music video will premiere later this morning on the band’s YouTube channel.

Earlier today, the song was given its radio debut by Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6.

The single marks the first Maxïmo Park track the band has released as a trio. Founding members Archis Tiku and Lukas Wooller exited the band in 2014 and 2019, respectively. The former retired from playing music, while the latter emigrated to Australia to pursue composition and teaching. The band have since added auxiliary touring members, bassist Paul Rafferty and keyboardist Jemma Freese, as live replacements.

The band’s last album was 2017’s ‘Risk To Exist.’ In a review of the album, NME noted that while the album had “impeccable bad timing” with its political bent, it was still “a cracking post-debate disco record.”

Frontman Paul Smith followed the release a year later with his fourth solo album, ‘Diagrams.’

“In some ways, it’s the songs that have never fit in before,” he said to NME of its creation.

“What ties these songs together is probably an overdriven guitar, grungy sound. Those sounds are like candy to me.”

The band also recently made their return to the live arena, performing a socially-distanced show in Gosforth Park in their native Newcastle.