Johnny Marr Former Guitarist for The Smiths Announces New Double Album
Johnny Marr, one of the most influential songwriters and guitarists in British independent music will release Fever Dreams Pts 1-4, on February 25, 2022 via BMG.
The 16-track double LP is Marr’s fourth solo record and the first full album of all-new music since 2018’s acclaimed UK Top Ten release, Call The Comet.
Preceded by opening track Spirit, Power and Soul, the album’s electro-soul M.O. is described as “an exercise in progressive creative ambition” by DIY, “invigorating” by Uncut and with “defiance in its DNA” by CLASH.
Speaking about the album, Johnny says:
“There’s a set of influences and a very broad sound that I’ve been developing – really since getting out of The Smiths until now, and I hear it in this record. There are so many strands of music in it. We didn’t do that consciously, but I think I’ve got a vocabulary of sound. And I feel very satisfied that I’ve been able to harness it.”
LIVE STREAM EVENT
‘Live At The Crazy Face Factory’ will premiere globally on
Wednesday, November 10 @ 8pm AEDT,
and be available on-demand until Sunday, November 14.
Especially curated by Johnny, and offering fans the chance to step inside his custom-built Crazy Face Factory studio where Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 was created, Johnny discusses his creative process and life in song writing, alongside a set of full-band live performances from across his career.
Fans who pre order the album from the official artist store HERE will be able to access exclusive pre-sale tickets at a special price before the general on sale on Wed, October 20 HERE.
Starting his career with The Smiths, Johnny Marr’s subsequent creative journey has seen him at the heart of The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse and The Cribs, as well as working with such names as The Pretenders, Talking Heads, The Avalanches, and the musician and composer Hans Zimmer – with whom he recently recorded the score and soundtrack for the forthcoming James Bond film, No Time To Die, including the title track created with Billie Eilish.
Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4 explores a multitude of concepts and themes. Because the wider world effectively shut down during its creation, Marr’s focus was pushed into both his interior life, and evoking the emotional and psychological states of others. “It’s an inspired record, and I couldn’t wait to get in and record every day,” he says. “But I had to go inwards.”
As well as evoking the past and present, the album looks to the future, the idea that even in the most trying times, hope endures. Songs like Hideaway Girl, Lightning People and Tenement Time are anthemic, rousing creations, elsewhere The Speed Of Love and Rubicon offer introspective, exploratory pieces that take advantage of the project’s emphasis on space. Running through everything are two key elements: echoes of the wildly diverse music from across Marr’s career, and lyrics that are direct, emotional, deeply human, and thereby true to what Marr calls The Language Of The Song.
Written and recorded at the Crazy Face Factory over the last year, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 was created with Marr’s long-standing band: co-producer Doviak, bassist Iwan Gronow, drummer Jack Mitchell, and features backing vocals throughout the album from the Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Meredith Sheldon, with three songs featuring bass from Primal Scream’s Simone Marie.
The first quarter of the album, the Fever Dreams Pt 1 EP will be released digitally and on very limited edition 12” silver vinyl on Friday October 15, and features Spirit Power and Soul and three further tracks, Receiver, All These Days and Ariel.
The vinyl is now sold out on Johnny’s official store.
Pre-save here
johnnymarr.lnk.to/feverdreamspt1PR
Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 Track Listing
- Spirit Power & Soul
- Receiver
- All These Days
- Ariel
- Lightning People
- Hideaway Girl
- Sensory Street
- Tenement Time
- The Speed of Love
- Night and Day
- Counter-Clock World
- Rubicon
- God’s Gift
- Ghoster
- The Whirl
- Human
