Hot Press Review- review indicates great album but looks like lost stars for political views
MORRRISEY – I AM NOT A DOG ON A CHAIN- BMG
5 Stars/10
RESPECTABLE RETURN FROM
INDIE ICON ISN'T ENOUGH TO
ESCAPE BLACK HOLE OF HIS
POLITICAL VIEWS
Morrissey has a new album and fans are confused as to how they should
feel. I Am Not A Dog On A Chain is
solid late-period Moz, with robust
production by his latest ongoing
collaborator Joe Chiccarelli (Spoon,
The Shins, Tori Amos).
Buuuut there is still the sticky
issue of Stephen Patrick's well-
documented far right views. He
popped up on the Jimmy Fallon
show wearing a badge advertising
the For Britain party (headbangers
shunned by Nigel Farage for their
extremism). And he has accused
London Mayor Sadiq Khan of
being unable to "talk properly".
To all of this we can now add his
one-way feud with The Guardian, as
the
trumpeted by his new line of "f***
The Guardian" merch (an actual
thing).
How do you get all that out
of your head whilst grooving to
his thoroughly agreeable new
record, which Moz himself has not
inaccurarely hailed as "the very
best of me"? It's impossible which
is why, as a Smiths diehard, you
may undergo a succession of mild
out-of-body experiences as the top-
drawer jangle pop of Jim Jim Falls'
and single 'Bobby, Don't You Think
They Know?' washes over you.
His humour has weathered the
years, at least. "Time will mould
you and craft you," he croons
darkly. "But when you're looking
away it will slide up and shaft you."
That's the opening line to closer,
'My Hurling Days Are Done'. It's
in the rich Morrissey tradition of
wry dirges and we can always do
with more indie icons referencing
the greatest sport in the world.
But it's so very odd enjoying this
album knowing the opinions of the
increasingly marginalised figure
behind it.
MORRRISEY – I AM NOT A DOG ON A CHAIN- BMG
5 Stars/10
RESPECTABLE RETURN FROM
INDIE ICON ISN'T ENOUGH TO
ESCAPE BLACK HOLE OF HIS
POLITICAL VIEWS
Morrissey has a new album and fans are confused as to how they should
feel. I Am Not A Dog On A Chain is
solid late-period Moz, with robust
production by his latest ongoing
collaborator Joe Chiccarelli (Spoon,
The Shins, Tori Amos).
Buuuut there is still the sticky
issue of Stephen Patrick's well-
documented far right views. He
popped up on the Jimmy Fallon
show wearing a badge advertising
the For Britain party (headbangers
shunned by Nigel Farage for their
extremism). And he has accused
London Mayor Sadiq Khan of
being unable to "talk properly".
To all of this we can now add his
one-way feud with The Guardian, as
the
trumpeted by his new line of "f***
The Guardian" merch (an actual
thing).
How do you get all that out
of your head whilst grooving to
his thoroughly agreeable new
record, which Moz himself has not
inaccurarely hailed as "the very
best of me"? It's impossible which
is why, as a Smiths diehard, you
may undergo a succession of mild
out-of-body experiences as the top-
drawer jangle pop of Jim Jim Falls'
and single 'Bobby, Don't You Think
They Know?' washes over you.
His humour has weathered the
years, at least. "Time will mould
you and craft you," he croons
darkly. "But when you're looking
away it will slide up and shaft you."
That's the opening line to closer,
'My Hurling Days Are Done'. It's
in the rich Morrissey tradition of
wry dirges and we can always do
with more indie icons referencing
the greatest sport in the world.
But it's so very odd enjoying this
album knowing the opinions of the
increasingly marginalised figure
behind it.