Manuela have aired new single ‘Cracks In The Concrete’

Last week, Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy announced he’d be leaving the band, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and work on something a bit different.

Well, one way to spend more time with your loved ones is to start a band with your spouse, and that’s exactly what Nick’s gone and done. Alongside his wife Manuela Gernedel, he’s formed a new band, called Manuela (aww, nice touching tribute there).

The pair are gearing up to release their debut album on Lost Map sometime in the near future, and it’s set to include appearances from Django Django’s Jim Dixon, Mystery Jets’ William Reese, Veronica Falls’ Roxanne Clifford and former Franz Ferdinand bandmate Paul Thompson. Not a bad line-up of guests, eh?

While we’re waiting on that official announcement, Manuela have shared their first single ‘Cracks In The Concrete’, a dance-rock number where Manuela sings that “a baby was born in my house last night/ And I dreamt of money and success/ My friend got robbed outside his flat”. That’s a bit of a strange sequence of events…

Listen to ‘Cracks In The Concrete’ via Stereogum below.