He’s an enigma, that Morrissey, to say the least.
He hasn’t had an easy run in the five years since his previous record Years Of Refusal: struck down by ulcers, pneumonia and Barrett’s oesophagus, forced to cancel a number of tours and admitting there’s more chance of “being struck by lightning” than finding another record deal.
However, the ex-Smiths frontman has come out on the other side surprisingly chipper (well, you know, chipper by Morrissey standards) with his tenth solo release that is pretty much what you would expect, but at the same time a huge surprise.
Hit:
There’s no denying he’s a talented lyricist.
Despite the occasional borderline overkill, nobody can say that Morrissey’s lost his knack for writing. He writes almost as if he was a novelist or poet, with his self-professed love for alliteration and rhyme (read his autobiography) it is incredibly intelligent writing that seems timeless.
For his whole career, through The Smiths years to now, he writes so deliberately with his own lexicon; a unique syntax structure by which you can absolutely identify his work.
Though not sonically similar to any previous Morrissey release, the stylistic backbone of the songs indicates that the record will resist ageing just as well as his début Viva Hate.
Shit:
Despite there being some themes and musical ideas that are experimental and “out there” for Morrissey, you do start to see a formula in the track-listing that mirrors other releases.
‘Smiler with Knife’ speaks gently about rough boys, ‘The Bullfighter Dies’ is his expected animal rights anthem (this time with some interesting and kind of droll mariachi themes) and ‘Staircase at the University’ an anti-establishment dig at the education system and exam stresses.
By their own tokens the songs are interesting and novel, but there’s definitely a pattern in the subject matter that the 55 year-old can’t seem to escape. Actually, he probably just doesn’t want to.
Hit:
He’s experimenting. He’s getting with the times; down with the kids if you will, but without compromising his own talent, voice or stylistic quirks.
The occasional flickers of sound are more modern than anything we’ve heard from Morrissey and are surprising. However, after a couple of listens they’re entertaining and quite nice indications that every song Morrissey puts out is a dictation of society in some way – whether this is blatantly facetious is yet to be decided, but hey, it works.
A growing love for Latin influences in ‘The Bullfighter Dies’, the vaguely menacing distortion in ‘Neal Cassidy Drops Dead’ and intermittent flickers of some almost electronic sounds liven things up a bit, and give the signature Morrissey vitriol the push into modernity it may just need.
Shit:
It’s just not quite as cohesive as some of his previous releases. You know those records you can listen to, start to finish, and not be bothered or jolted out of the flow by any part of it? It’s not one of those.
So many Morrissey albums – Viva Hate, Vauxhall & I and even his last record Years Of Refusal had a tightness that World Peace lacks very slightly. It bounces between sentiments, styles and themes that are brilliant on their own but in a body of work are just lacking tightness and unity all the way through.
Hit (but also shit)
What’s clear from the get-go on this record is that Moz, quite frankly, doesn’t give a shit – and it’s simultaneously the best and worst thing about his music.
Blatantly anti-government, a complete misanthropist and charmingly morbid, his cynicism hasn’t waned since previous releases. Most of the time it comes in the form of amusing aphorisms, but there comes a point where his deliberate dissonance borders on overkill.
It feels like the title of some of the tracks (‘Neal Cassidy Drops Dead’, ‘Kick The Bride Down The Aisle’) summarises the sentiment and the actual tracks just reiterate that line for four minutes at a time. These grievances are delivered, as per usual, with a lot of humour, but they’re just starting to become retellings of his positions, rather than the provocative stands of past Morrissey.
Final verdict: Hit
It’s unlikely to make him a whole lot of new fans, but World Peace is enough to satisfy and re-engage the current ones.
He’s found a new record label but kept the classic Morrissey sound, augmenting it with a host of ideas we haven’t seen him delve into before – and an added acute awareness of mortality.
He is sticking to his guns. His almost gleeful disdain still resonates with audiences and arguably expands to a new generation of listeners who have discovered The Smiths and have become followers of the seminal frontman-turned-solo artist.
Almost 35 years after his début, Moz may be less consistent than in the past, and tracks from his tenth solo effort may not dominate future Greatest Hits records, but there’s no denying that the unique talent is still there and that, like everything else he’s produced, will age gracefully.
With this new record deal promising a follow-up to World Peace, it’ll be interesting to see if his charisma and contempt will stand up to another effort.
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