Photo by Phil Kitt
JOHNNY MARR, perhaps more widely known as the former guitarist of legendary Manchester outfit THE SMITHS, has announced the release of a new longplayer on October 6.
Titled Playland, the album is a highly anticipated follow-up to his solo debut The Messenger. Composed to a theme of ‘songs that move at the speed of life’ and drawing heavily upon the urban landscapes of London and Manchester, Playland promises to further MARR‘s position as a highly influential musician in his own right.
In an interview with DIY Mag, MARR describes the transition into the second record as a seamless one.
‘When The Messenger came out, I kept on writing,’ he says. ‘I liked that the band had a momentum going on tour and a connection with the audience, and I thought that energy would be good to capture on the new record.
It was always my idea to be as quick following up this first album as possible… Even before I did The Messenger, I wanted this part of my career to just be quick, have some energy and not be too delayed… I just wanted to be in a band who work all the time; you do the shows, you write songs and you do it again.’
Playland is available to pre-order now, on iTunes and Amazon. Advance purchases of the album include a download of the first single, ‘Easy Money’, from August 16.
Tracklisting:
01. Back In The Box
02. Easy Money
03. Dynamo
04. Candidate
05. 25 Hours
06. The Trap
07. Playland
08. Speak Out Reach Out
09. Boys Get Straight
10. This Tension
11. Little King
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