Morrissey has shared a tracklisting for a new album on his official website, alongside the logo for Sire Records.
The former Smiths singer signalled last week (December 19) that he had signed with the label, leading many fans to assume that he would now be able to release his much-delayed album ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’.
Now, to mark Christmas Day, Morrissey has shared a 12-track list of song titles, presented without any further context.
The titles do not include ‘Rebels Without Applause’, the one single released from ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ in 2022, nor any of the other rumoured songs from that album, so it appears that these titles relate to any entirely separate record.
Last year, he told Medium that he had completed a second new album that he has been unable to release. “The second one was re-recorded in France in late 2023, and given a new title. We scrapped half of the tracks and we recorded six new ones, and so it is not the album from the beginning of 2023,” he explained.
The tracklisting is:
‘The Monsters Of Pig Alley’
‘Headache’
‘Make-Up Is A Lie’
‘The Night Pop Dropped’
‘You’re Right, It’s Time’
‘Kerching Kerching’
‘Zoom Zoom The Little Boy’
‘Lester Bangs’
‘Boulevard’
‘Many Icebergs Ago’
‘Amazona’
‘Notre-Dame’
As for ‘Bonfire…’, issues date back to December 2022, when Morrissey revealed that he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records” – despite announcing that he would be releasing the LP with them just two months earlier. He also revealed that Miley Cyrus had asked to have her backing vocals removed from the ‘Bonfire…’ track ‘I Am Veronica’, which they’d recorded in 2020.
Both severed partnerships came in relation to the musician’s political stance and his support for the controversial far-right party For Britain, whose badge he sported during a 2019 television appearance.
Despite provoking controversy with his political views – something which former bandmate Johnny Marr said “cast a shadow over The Smiths” – the frontman has insisted that he is not far right.
Last summer, the vocalist shared a statement on his website around the status of ‘Bonfire…’, accusing Capitol Records of “fascism” and having a “creeping culture of censorship”. He further said he was “quickly coming around to” the belief that the company only signed ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ “in order to sabotage it”.
Later allegations from the ‘Suedehead’ singer included that the CEO of Capitol was trying to derail his career. He also took to his website to say he was being “gagged” over its release. Blaming the “idiot culture”, he said: “There is no arts media anymore in England, therefore there’s no one to whom I can sit and talk about this. The fact is, genuine artists in England are now being held hostage by people who object to any manner of alternative opinion.”
Last year, he said he had bought back the rights to the album, as well as his 2014 record ‘World Peace Is None Of Your Business’.
Morrissey has also announced a European tour for next year, which will include a headline date at The O2 in Greenwich in February, his only UK gig of the year. See all the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.