Needless to say, I had low hopes when a new album was announced late last year. Then, the long-gestating Autobiography was released and I read it with relish. Despite one-fifth of the book being devoted to his late '90s court case alone, it contained so many insights into the making of a male diva. By the last page, I had renewed faith in Moz.
Oh yeah, that album - World Peace is None of Your Business. It was finally released this week. After reading a middling review on Pitchfork and a glowing review on The Quietus (my two main musical news outlets), I had to get to the bottom of it. I bought the Deluxe Edition (True to the description, it adds six additional songs, ostensibly making this the first (studio) double album of Morrissey's entire career; too much?) I decided to test out my first listen in the most un-Morrissey of locations: on the elliptical machine at the gym.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Does it sail to the solo triumphs of the late '80s/early '90s? Of course not, but it is his most solid offering in many, many years and probably his most musically interesting in decades. We all know Morrissey isn't a musician per se and pretty much plays producer/bandleader/yes or no man for his group of musicians/songwriting partners. Thankfully he's let them spread their wings this time. No more albums full of guitar/bass/drums mid-tempo plodding rockers. I couldn't take another album of them, honestly. Moz needed to give up his need to "ROCK." I wasn't convinced he could. I was wrong.
Flamenco guitar, harps, piano, accordion, organ, horns and more pepper this album; a didgeridoo (of all things) opens the affair! The man has trusted his band to expand their palate and they take him up on the offer. Morrissey also embraces his appetite for ballads again and places a few of them neatly throughout the album. I thought his ballads were going to be a lost art.
Flashes to his past shine through, in both music and lyrics. The chugging drums and bass come in at 2:43 on "I'm Not a Man" reminding me of the thrust of "The Last of the Famous International Playboys," while the sprightly strum of "Staircase at the University" could have been a Bona Drag outtake. "Kiss Me A Lot" is a sequel to 2004's "Let Me Kiss You"; in fact, sequels seem to appear elsewhere on this album. 'Istanbul' is the flipside of 'Piccadilly Palare' - father searching for a city-bound runaway teenage son. 'Kick the Bride Down the Aisle' follows the story of The Smiths' 'William, It Was Really Nothing': wedding-craving, wanna-be bride and Morrissey 30 years later, still sticking his nose in.
A new interest in life outside of the English kitchen-sink dramas shows that Morrissey is no longer as provincial as his critics like to clamor on about. Places name-checked on this album include Turkey, Spain, Scandinavia, Egypt, Greece, "Ukraine to Bahrain"; Morrissey's interest in the world around him has expanded further than anyone could have imagined from the Meat is Murder days.
And let us not forget the words, his stock in trade. Although for some bewildering reason the Deluxe Edition of this digital album does not come with a lyrics booklet (grrrr), just hearing his crisp elocution, you can hear that the man has not lost his edge, even when 18 tracks seems a few too many. Maybe writing 457 pages of an autobiography made him reset his lyrical mind.
"Neal Cassady drops dead/and Allen Ginsberg's tears shampoo his beard/Neal Cassady drops dead/and Allen Ginsberg's hosed down in a barn"
"Or they will disable you with tasers/that's what government's for"
"Don Juan picaresque wifebeater vest"
"Staircase at the university/she threw herself down/and her head split three ways"
Oh, I live for his attention to detail. He's one of the reasons I wanted to become a lyricist. Just those few gems (of many here) made me smile. Maybe he didn't pack up shop back in the mid '00s, after all.
