Cast - Love Is The Call
We truly live in circular times.
2023 was (apparently) defined by the media-dubbed ‘Summer Of Britpop’ with two of its main antagonists (Blur and Pulp) filling stadiums and arenas, evoking the more innocent and exciting memories of three decades ago.
But in truth the movement never really went away thanks to previous – if infrequent – reunions by said acts, adding to activity from the likes of Suede and Supergrass to name but a few.
Yet it’s hard to deny there does seem to be something in the air. 2024 has already delivered new albums from bands who – while not changing the culture – did provide some classic anthems. A (fully) reunited Kula Shakur have been earning plaudits with their latest effort and, remarkably, Shed Seven hit the top spot at the sixth attempt. Can Cast, proponents of timeless songs and cosmic spirits, follow suit?
In a just world, they will. In his recent interview with Live4Ever, John Power – singer, songwriter and guitarist – declared he had considered what made debut records so exciting; namely the galvanizing energy from what could be the only chance to make an impression. Mission accomplished: there have been other moments in the past (such as 2017’s Do That) but on Love Is The Call, Cast appear to have more intent than at any other point this century.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2024/02/review-cast-love-is-the-call/
Interview - John Power, Cast
Debut albums are both a curse and a blessing for musicians.
The adage about having all your life to write your debut is true (to a certain extent), but it runs deeper than that. To capture the energy, enthusiasm and passion that can only come from the first attempt is a thankless, if not impossible task.
Think then how it feels to be John Power. With not one, but two iconic debut albums (The La’s and All Change) under his belt before his 29th birthday, the Cast frontman knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a first impression. So, when he says his band’s new album captures that elusive magic, you’d better pay attention.
“I wanted to capture the energy of a debut, not in a novel way but in the sense that I was thinking about why they were so exciting,” says the Liverpudlian of new album Love Is The Call. “If I was going write a debut record for the band, how would it sound? It would be this record.”
“It’s got that energy but it’s also got an understanding and a wistfulness about living a life. It’s not like, ‘Hey, we’re here! We’ve got it all ahead of us’. I had to dig deeper for the fundamental ideas, and so – as I was thinking like that – I found this little niche of where I was between the two seminal records. There was a space between those two moments in my life where I hadn’t expressed the merging of them whilst not parodying either of them.”
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2024/02/live4ever-interview-john-power-cast/
Interview - Gruff Rhys
Despite over 40 years of experience in the music game, Gruff Rhys’ prolificity remains undiminished. Released last week, Sadness Sets Me Free is the Welshman’s eighth solo album and the twenty fifth album on which he is listed as a contributor.
Much has been of the achievement, but when speaking with Clash, Rhys admits that such details mean little to him: “(The number of albums) didn’t occur to me at all. I was sure I’d done more than 20 but I didn’t know the number. I don’t claim them all as my own. They are the works of bands and a lot of collaboration, but I’ve had a part in all those records.”
“I feel incredibly lucky to be allowed to make records and I really appreciate every moment of getting to document music. But when it comes to recording an album, I’m still learning and I feel I’m on a journey to somewhere to try and find a unique place. Ultimately, I’m happy to release the residue until then!”
His latest album is the latest step in a storied career that has taken in bands, soundtracks, and, as stated, collaborations spanning multiple genres (often on the same song). Yet Sadness Sets Me Free is arguably his most unified collection, which Rhys acknowledges took a concerted effort to achieve. “I’m trying to make coherent albums because I’m a bit of a magpie, musically,” he admits. “I tend to get drawn into different production styles, sometimes on the same records, so I’m trying to keep that in check and make coherent albums from start to finish.”
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/im-still-learning-gruff-rhys-interviewed/
U2 - Live at The Sphere, Las Vegas - 26th January 2024
Photo by Rich Fury
U2 do not shy away from big.
The four-piece are the one of the biggest stadium acts of all time, second only to The Rolling Stones, but – unlike Mick and co – have pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved within the format.
From the pioneering Zoo TV tour in the early 90s, the overly extravagant PopMart shows in 97/98, the ‘Claw’ shows of 2009 through to 2018’s Innocence + Experience shows (which included the band walking through a 96-feet long screen), their M.O has always been about making each night An Event.
But. This time ¾ of the band (Larry Mullen Jnr absent because of a back injury) are competing with the venue: the brand new Sphere is a technological marvel, 516ft wide, 366ft tall and comprising of an LED screen of over 268 million pixels. Even as you enter, with only a DJ and a (purposefully) uninspiring backdrop of brickwork (perhaps a nod to the Berlin Wall, see below) the sheer scale of the venue is breathtaking. It will be in place long after U2 have completed their residency, each artist who follows undoubtedly putting their own stamp on the place.
That said, U2 get first crack and – no fools – have brought their A-game in the form of one of their best albums, Achtung Baby, their ‘chopping down of The Joshua Tree’.
They take to the stark stage (the sound comes directly through the screens) and, after a hymnal opening, Bono pointedly applies his famous ‘Fly’ sunglasses, the booming drums of ‘Zoo Station’ soundtracking the ‘wall’ crumbling before it splits open into a huge, venue-filling cross.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2024/01/review-u2-live-at-the-sphere-vegas/
The Smile - Wall Of Eyes
Review: The Smile – Wall Of Eyes
Live4ever 24 January, 2024
8/10
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A CHANGE IN PRODUCER HASN’T RESULTED IN THE ABANDONMENT OF THE SMILE’S RAGE AND FUNK.
For Radiohead fans, the announcements of side-projects/solo albums are a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, new music from whichever member of the band is exciting, but tempered by the knowledge that the next Radiohead album gets that little bit further away (eight years and counting).
But out of all those projects, The Smile comes closest, not least because of the presence of two members. The first album from the trio (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner) was a welcome treat two years ago, with A Light For Attracting Attention topping many End Of Year lists, and the rapid release of its successor Wall Of Eyes comes with high expectations.
A change in producer (long-time collaborator Nigel Godrich has stepped aside, replaced by Sam Petts-Davis, Yorke’s Suspiria co-producer) hasn’t resulted in the abandonment of the rage and the funk, but added more textures to the sonics. The title-track is bossa nova fused with Yorke’s trademark isolationism and despair (‘Let’s raise our glasses to what we don’t deserve’), all pleading strings and tumbling percussion which collide hypnotically. ‘Teleharmonic’ follows suit while adding fluttering flutes and unearthly synths, the type of restlessly dark beauty which Yorke specialises in yet never utilises carelessly.
His lyrics are as generally oblique as ever, hiding an obvious line amidst puzzling ones. ‘This goes where it wants to be’, he spikily proffers on the salty ‘Read The Room’, aptly for a song on which Skinner interrupts his laid-back beat with a series of staggeringly complex fills, pushing the rhythm to its natural limits. The drummer’s playing is so loose it borders on casual, yet he’s perennially in control while Greenwood’s fractured arpeggios complement his old friend’s brattish tones.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2024/01/review-the-smile-wall-of-eyes/
Secrets I Can’t Keep: The Best Songs Of James
One of the UK’s longest-serving and – more importantly – one of its most consistent bands, James announced their return this week via new single ‘Is This Love,’ with 18th studio album Yummy to follow later in 2024.
After celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2022 and reworking their songs orchestrally on last year’s Be Opened By The Wonderful, Tim Booth and his colleagues are once again looking forward. But, as we must wait for what’s next, what better time for us to look back through their fearsome catalogue?
The list below is made up of the top 10 singles(ish) as chosen by this writer, but in truth it was a formidable task. Classics such as ‘Say Something,’ ‘Sit Down’ and ‘Laid’ fail to make the cut but sit just outside. In the case of the latter pair, overfamiliarity has perhaps dulled their impact, or it may simply be the adage that their best songs aren’t the best known.
In alphabetical order (for a breakdown would just be too difficult) here are their strongest singles at the time of writing.
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/secrets-i-cant-keep-james-their-10-best-songs/
Def.fo - Eternity
It’s all a bit much this time of year, isn’t it? Whether it’s the hangover from the pre-Christmas partying/stress, the lingering indulgence or loneliness of the holiday season itself or the desolate, bleak comedown which we’re now enduring (otherwise known as ‘January’).
Come then and let Tom Powell (AKA def.fo) take you away from it all. His debut album Eternity comes dripping in heritage (produced alongside his father Steve, who can list John Power and The Strands amongst his credits) with guest appearances from the legendary Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and keys by Chris Geddes from Belle & Sebastian. Throw in Roy Marchant (M.I.A.) on mixing and Howie Weinberg (Gorillaz, Ian Brown, Super Furry Animals) on mastering and you’ve got a mixing pot to delve into.
And delving is a must, for Powell has created a psychedelic trip from sun-kissed, windswept beaches to the inner reaches of the mind. We are dropped in mid-song on opener ‘Free’, a swirling whirlpool of a track (think early Tame Impala) which has a sweet chorus but with guitars playing a different song in a different dimension, yet it works.
Then a stylistic volte-face (the first of many) on the bluesy, swaggering Circles, which glistens and sparkles and Richard Hawley-esque strings and guitar. ‘Play It Cool’ follows, all clanging cymbals and rolling riffs, a successful fusion of garage rock and dream pop.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2024/01/review-def-fo-eternity/
Sprints - Letter To Self
Tired are we? January blues already? Feeling a bit hungover from the festive period?
Tough. Snap out of it. And if you don’t do it yourself, then Sprints will do it for you.
Slowly but surely over the last couple of years, the Dublin-four piece have been accumulating songs and honing their craft while supporting the likes of Yard Act and Suede, alongside two well-received EPs and a sold-out show at the 800-capacity Scala. And now, for the album. Wrestling the ‘big indie hope’ mantle for themselves at the first opportunity 2024 provides is testament to both the confidence of the group and of the debut album.
For on Letter To Self, singer, guitarist and lead-songwriter Karla Chubb confronts inner turmoil head-on, one consequence of a childhood spent in Germany (after being born in Dublin), perpetually feeling out-of-step with the world. Inspired by the anger which fuelled Savages – and Jehnny Beth in particular – the album is primarily a gnarly scream at the world.
And what a scream. Chubb possesses a titanic voice and a larynx-wrecking range which is deployed sparingly but effectively across the 11 tracks, including current single ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’. More controlled and measured than much else that surrounds it (albeit no less motoring), Chubb comes to terms with suicidal thoughts emanating from past trauma – begging, ‘Can you help me stop the screams?’. Heart-breaking in sentiment yet powerful in delivery, the ethereal guitar licks give way to one of many big choruses and the song points to a healthy future.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2024/01/review-sprints-letter-to-self/
Liam Gallagher & John Squire - Just Another Rainbow
Whisper it, but Liam Gallagher is evolving.
Fans of Mancunian rock rejoiced in late December when the news was confirmed. After declaring their collaboration as ‘better then Revolver,’ the former Oasis frontman’s project with legendary Stone Roses guitarist John Squire (all but confirmed previously via a picture of Squire with uber-producer Greg Kurstin, who Gallagher has worked with for several years) was officially announced with music to be released in early 2024, in the form of single ‘Just Another Rainbow’.
The icons have history, of course; back in 1997, Gallagher Jnr was listed as co-songwriter with Squire on ‘Love Me And Leave Me’, the third single from the latter’s rebound band, the Seahorses. Furthermore, the song was Liam’s only songwriting credit until ‘Little James’ from the Oasis album Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants in 2000. A sweet – if basic – song, ‘Love Me And Leave Me’ revealed a tender side to the younger Gallagher (or at least to his songwriting) that he apparently wasn’t confident in displaying to his brother Noel.
https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/liam-gallagher-john-squire-just-another-rainbow/
Live4Ever - Tracks Of The Year 2023
So, here we are again. Another year ends and so, as sure as night follows day, another year-end list.
But this is no ordinary year-end list. It’s a year-end list by your favourite music website compiling the best songs of another packed 12 months and, as such, demands your respect and consideration.
We would say that of course, but there’s no denying it’s been a year to remember, not least for what was a devastating winter for music fans. To list but some of the fallen: Martin Duffy, Terry Hall, Maxi Jazz (who all passed away in late 2022 after last year’s article was published), Jeff Beck, Lisa Marie Presley, Robbie Bachman, David Crosby, Tom Verlaine, Burt Bacharach, David Jude Jolicoeur and Steve Mackey were all cruelly taken from the world before the first taste of spring.
Harry Belafonte, Pete Brown, Andy Rourke, Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, John Gosling, Robbie Robertson, Gary Young, Rudolph Isley, Mars Williams, Shane MacGowan and Denny Laine all followed in what was an especially brutal year. Heroes and memory-makers all, we remember them fondly.
Losses to a music industry that is making more money than ever yet – much like society – the disparity in distribution grows ever wider. Spotify continues to pay musicians a pittance (and treat their staff equally as badly) yet generates record revenues, while Bandcamp – once the refuge of artists – was bought out and immediately laid off 50% of their staff, which bodes ill for the treatment of creatives.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/12/hak-baker-our-2023-in-music/
Billy Bragg - Live at the Bristol Beacon, 5th December 2023
It seems appropriate that, in a city with such a progressive outlook, the Bard Of Barking is among the first to perform at the Beacon (latterly Colston Hall), a £150m project that will welcome the likes of Paul Weller and Richard Hawley in 2024.
Of course, being the nation’s favourite troubadour, Billy Bragg has previous with the same space, regaling the audience about supporting The Clash in the mid-1980s – one of many stories and anecdotes that pepper the set.
That’s always been Bragg’s style, but seems ever more fitting on this tour, celebrating 40 years since the release of his first album ‘Life’s A Riot with Spy v Spy,’ all 17 minutes of which is played (if not in order) to close the set. The preceding nearly 2 hours are a whistlestop tour of the last 4 decades.
For a political songwriter – which, by definition, should age much of his work – there is a depressing topicality to the material performed tonight, even if some lyrics are updated. Opening with a solemn ‘The Wolf Covers Its Tracks’, lines such as, ‘Jet planes that fly that drop bombs on civilians to even the score. Where’s the God of the children? In the rubble of war’, eerily reference the current atrocities in Gaza.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/12/review-billy-bragg-bristol-beacon/
The Goa Express - The Goa Express
Back in the summer (‘of Britpop’ as some wags dubbed it), despite an excellent new album, one of Blur’s most impressive achievements was how intensely and accurately they were able to roll back the years to deliver their early, frantically wasted tracks as potently as they had during their first burst of youthful insolence. The likes of ‘Oily Water’ and ‘Popscene’ had lost nothing in three decades.
If The Goa Express are lucky enough to last that long (and here’s hoping they do), the Burnley band will have a task on their hands to do the same, for youthful verve is very much the order of the day even if the band have been plugging away for a few years now. Flummoxed by COVID and the now-standard vinyl delays, their second album is – by all accounts – already written.
As is likely, it will have a different sound to this debut judging by closing track ‘Prove It’ which, unlike every other track, opens quietly before bursting into life with a widescreen, indie-rock marching outro, pointing to a bigger, grander future.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/review-the-goa-express-debut-lp/
The Prodigy & Soft Play, Live at Utilita Arena, Cardiff - 21st November 2023
Life depends upon change and renewal. Whether it’s self-imposed or forced upon you, change is inevitable but it’s how you manage it that matters.
In Soft Play’s case, they’ve dealt with it head-on. The inevitable backlash on Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent’s decision to ditch their old name – which they felt, ‘didn’t represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer’ – is covered in pre-emptive, snook-cocking single ‘Punk’s Dead’ which opens tonight’s support slot. Cutting off all criticisms at the pass, its wry sarcasm (delivered with nothing less than sneering virility, as per) is perhaps their finest hour to date (although sadly Robbie Williams is nowhere to be found) and bodes well for what comes next.
Otherwise, they’ve lost no power in the rebrand, with the relentless brutality omnipresent across their no-frills 8-song set which largely draws from debut album Are You Satisfied?.
Both Holman and Vincent have suffered in their personal lives over the last few years, yet that (and their forays as Baby Dave and Larry Pink The Human respectively) have galvanized the duo. During ‘White Knuckle Ride’, Holman apishly jumps into the crowd as if the stage cannot contain him, while later he drily admits: ‘There’s a reason there’s only two of us. When me and Laurie started the band no one else wanted to join. That’s it, really.’
Their visceral ferocity makes them kindred spirits with The Prodigy who, after an impressively high-octane DJ set from Radio One’s Jack Saunders, open with a brief but typically brutal ‘Breathe’, the lowest-key moment in the set.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/the-prodigy-soft-play-live-cardiff/
Interview - Shaun Ryder
Contains swearing, obviously.
Ostensibly this piece is an interview with Shaun Ryder but in truth, it was a one-way conversation.
The iconic frontman (or indeed, National Treasure) is blessedly unrestrained and unfiltered, and as such is a wonderful interviewee. Tip for any future interviewers, however: if you’re lucky enough to ask a question that he engages with, just sit back and let him talk.
Live4ever meets the man himself over Zoom to discuss the new Black Grape album Orange Head, the second album since their reformation in 2015 and fourth in total. Ordinarily, an interview is designed to cover some information about the album’s tracks, the backstory, etc. Unfortunately there’s one problem, as Ryder explains: “Here’s the mad thing about it though; I haven’t heard the album for about 10 months!”
Ah. “I got sent the album loads of times but I’m not very good on the technology front,” he explains, “so the stuff that I got sent disappeared. You know how it fucks off and goes, whatever format you get it in? So, I haven’t got a copy of the album! I’m out tomorrow, we’ve got a gig to promote the new album and we’ve stuck three new songs in: ‘Milk…” Shaun then tries to wrack his brains, unsuccessfully, before giving up. “Terrible this fookin’ memory! ‘Milk’’s one of them and I can’t remember the name of the other two. I’ll know when I see the autocue!”
“We finished it…it must be about a year ago…when I came out of that South African jungle thing (I’m A Celebrity South Africa), I pretty much flew straight to Spain to start making the album. It must have been about a year ago and it’s still not out yet! But it’s coming out soon, I believe.” (January, in fact).
When Ryder’s first band – Happy Mondays, as you know – split in 1993, few would have expected him to bounce back instantly, so public were his problems with addiction.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/live4ever-interview-shaun-ryder/
The View - Live at Marble Factory, Bristol - 17th November
As has been the case for the last 18 years, the crowd need no encouragement to chant ‘The View Are On Fire.’ Indeed, the temptation to play on it in every review the band receive is palpable. It’s almost too easy.
Yet The View’s reaction to the chant borders on indifference or embarrassment. Towards the end of tonight’s set, Kyle Falconer thanks the crowd and states his appreciation, but one can’t help but wonder if it’s something of an albatross for them.
Otherwise it’s business as usual for the Dundonians. Rattling through an 18-song set in just 75 minutes, it’s a high-octane skirt through their career, from the thunderous opening shot of ‘Glass Smash’ to the whimsical ‘Typical Time’, tacked on at the very end, all delivered with a devil-may-care passion.
The band have – rightly or wrongly – acquired a reputation as ramshackle but that’s ill-informed, with a resolute tautness throughout. ‘Sunday’ (their best and most underrated song from 2011’s Bread & Circuses) includes several false endings and a rock out but no displacement.
The gig does feel as if it’s teetering on the edge of chaos, but that’s primarily due to a buoyant crowd. Earlier in the set, ‘Comin’ Down’ segues into ‘Wasted Little DJs’ seamlessly, the latter featuring one of many displays of proficiency from guitarist Pete Reilly, looking fetching in tartan trousers and leather jacket.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/the-view-live-marble-bristol/
Interview - Divorce
The current COVID inquiry, while unsurprising in its revelations, recalls that dark period of 2020/21 when our favourite industry very nearly ground to a halt. Tours were cancelled, albums were delayed or scrapped and many artists had to leave music for good.
Yet, for certain acts, it provoked a re-evaluation of their style. Previously operating as Megatrain, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and Tiger Cohen-Towell took stock during the time afforded to them: “When the pandemic happened, we had a couple of years of nothing, which wasn’t a good time,” says Cohen-Towell when speaking to Clash. “But it was a useful time to be able to sit back and reflect on what we wanted Divorce to be. It was nice to have utilised that as a positive.”
The reflection is paying dividends: their exuberant, sincere indie-rock has resulted in a BBC 6 Music A-listed single (‘Scratch Your Metal’) under their belts and a new EP (Heady Metal, out now) already earning plaudits, Megatrain are not mourned. “Megatrain was the product of the two of us not really having any sort of plan or knowledge of the wider world of music… just trying to chuck stuff out,” says Felix of the project now.
https://www.clashmusic.com/next-wave/next-wave-1148-divorce/
Andy Crofts - Live at the 100 Club
Andy Crofts is quite the polymath.
The lead songwriter and singer for The Moons, Crofts was also a full-time member of Paul Weller’s band until recently, having to step back for personal reasons.
In over a decade working with the musician, he contributed to songwriting while also playing bass (among many other instruments) in the live arena. Crofts is also a noted visual artist, with prints adorning The Libertines’ hotel in Margate, and he’s even released his own photography book. Finally, he runs a record label (Colorama Records) which has released albums by Teenage Waitress and The Lunar Towers.
Yet he would surely agree that music is his day job, and in October of last year he performed a special solo show at the legendary 100 Club on Oxford Street in Central London, which was recorded for posterity. Unlike other live albums, it summons up mental images of the gig itself – whether you know the venue or if you were there – with a claustrophobic, contained sound.
With four studio albums to draw from, The Moons’ back catalogue makes up the majority of the set but the pattern remains consistent: Crofts draws inspiration from the Great English Songwriters such as Ray Davies, Paul McCartney and Weller himself. There is a pastoral, melancholy whimsy throughout.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/review-andy-crofts-live-100-club/
Beatowls - Marma
Do not be put off by the band name.
Accidentally topical (with their fellow Liverpudlians atop the singles chart once more), the moniker should be viewed not as puntastic, rather as the group presenting themselves as creatures of the night. Viewed through that prism it fits perfectly; these are songs of the witching hour.
Formed in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, Beatowls (vocalists Darcie Chazen and Tom Roberts, with Carl Cook on music/production duties) shroud themselves in mystery but set out to, ‘explore a delicate balance between longing and pain, the transient nature of time’: ‘It delves into the interplay of light and dark. Of nature and the city.’ If the point wasn’t clear, these are serious – and meticulously crafted – soundscapes.
The instrumental title-track’s crisp synths create a wispy, cinematic opening conveying a feeling of isolation, as many of the tracks do.
Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee - Los Angeles
It sounds like the beginning of a gag, but it’s not.
What do you get when you cross two quasi-goth drummers and one celebrated producer? One of the albums of the year. Not funny, is it? But this project – despite its many strengths – places little import on humour.
Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of The Cure and Budgie, original sticks man for Siouxsie And The Banshees have known each other for over 40 years and a few years ago formed a ‘supergroup’ along with producer Jacknife Lee and also Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins, who sadly had to leave for his day job.
Although intriguing as what would have appeared, one suspects that it may have been one drummer too many, so with Tolhurst and Budgie on synths and Lee on guitar and distortions (of which there are many) the project took shape.
As it is, Los Angeles is an immersive, dystopian fever dream of an album. Obviously the percussion is great, but the trio have pooled together their contacts for a fearsome supporting cast of collaborators and singers.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/lol-tolhurst-x-budgie-x-jacknife-lee/
Johnny Marr - Spirit Power (The Best Of)
In celebration of his 60th birthday Johnny Marr, generous man he is, is giving his fans the gifts.
Firstly the splendid coffee table book Marr’s Guitars, and last week the announcement of a 2024 tour in support of Spirit Power, his first solo Best Of collection.
Time works differently for Johnny Marr: the very fact that he’s about to enter his seventh decade recalls the awe of just how young he was when he knocked on Stephen Patrick Morrissey’s door all those years ago, a band he then left before he was 25. You’ll know the rest of the potted history by now, but as Marr approached his half-century, he put his hand to something new – a solo career.
It went remarkably well (especially for someone not renowned for singing) and here we are ten years on. Even for Marr the last decade has been a remarkably fertile period of four albums (one a double) and a smattering of stand-alone singles, all of which are collected here.
Sequenced non-chronologically, the evolution is palpable. ‘The Messenger’, the track which announced his solo career, seems comparatively basic now, all distracted synths and robust rhythms. Similarly the comforting, wistful melancholy of ‘New Town Velocity’ and the glam-pop stomp of ‘Upstarts’ didn’t especially break the mould (though both still sound great) but ‘European Me’, despite the jangling arpeggio, had a surprising melody which indicated envelopes were being pushed. Logically, he started from his comfort zone and pushed out.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/11/review-johnny-marr-spirit-power/