Johnny Marr Has Plenty To Say

Johnny Marr’s new album isn’t short on subject matter.

The Age Of Everything, released today, moves through technology, relationships, uncertainty and the uneasy feeling of trying to keep up with a world that seems to change faster than we can process it. It’s a surprisingly broad set of ideas for a record that still sounds unmistakably like Marr.

On ‘Just Once More’, he addresses the sense of danger and uncertainty surrounding the wider political landscape, while elsewhere the album turns its attention to the effect technology and modern life have on the way we see ourselves and each other.

Musically, Marr doesn’t need to make dramatic changes to remain interesting. His guitar is still at the centre of everything, but there’s plenty happening around it, with the songs allowed to move between the melodic, the atmospheric and the more direct.

The Smiths will always be part of the conversation when Marr releases music. That’s unavoidable. But it isn’t particularly useful when there is a new record to listen to.

The Age Of Everything is out now via BMG.