Johnny Marr - Call The Comet

Johnny Marr hat zwischenzeitlich auch ein Buch geschrieben. Langweiliger als Morrisseys Autobiographie kann „Set The Boy Free“ auch nicht sein. Vielleicht ist der ehemalige The Smiths-Gitarrist beim Rückblick auf sein bisheriges Leben etwas nostalgisch geworden, denn wie ließe es sich sonst erklären, dass er auf „Hi Hello“ unerwartet zu „There Is A Light That Never Goes Out“ zurückkehrt und auch noch Patti Smiths „Dancing Barefoot“ huldigt? Bis auf das elektronischere „New Dominions“, das die Klänge seiner früheren Band Electronic deutlich in die düstere Joy Division-Ecke verschiebt, tummelt er sich aber ansonsten in deutlich rockigeren Gefilden irgendwo zwischen Glam-Rock und Britpop, so dass die Presse zu Vergleichen mit den Rolling Stones („The Tracers“), Buzzcocks („My Eternal“) oder Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds („A Different Gun“) verleitet wird. Mir selbst fallen bei „Spiral Cities“ immer die frühen Simple Minds ein.

Und das frühere The Smiths-Mitglieder bei aktuellen politischen oder gesellschaftlichen Themen nicht nur entsetzlichen Unsinn von sich geben müssen, zeigt Marr auf „A Different Gun“, das er als Reaktion auf das Attentat in Nizza geschrieben hat:

"I didn't want to sing about the actual event because that would be wrong and inappropriate. But I saw the palm trees, and I know what it's like to walk down a beautiful seafront with the warm wind, with children around you and families around you, watching fireworks go off. We all know that feeling when you're on holiday. It's a very evocative, sensuous experience. The sultry night-time seafront. 
But there are bodies strewn in the road. And the shock of seeing dead bodies in that environment, caused by another member of the human race, is something that stayed with me. I just tried to depict some human kind of story in it, and make the music slightly woozy and otherwordly. I hope there's a sense of humanity in it, a sense of hope. But also: what next? There's always a different gun, a different bomb."

Call the Comet responds by rifling through the dystopias and utopias of the age of nuclear paranoia in which he grew up. This is a record steeped in both the chilly yearning of Bowie’s “Berlin” albums and Ziggy Stardust’s glam apocalypse, as well as the science-fiction paperbacks by the likes of JG Ballard which inspired them. (…)
The chiming synths and urgently climbing guitars are at their most euphoric on “My Eternal”. “All the saints are underground,” Marr sings, but the music conjures visceral visions of darting between future Manchester skyscrapers, as if in an optimist’s version of Blade Runner. Marr’s sources date him. So does his vision of rock as a transformative tool.
(Independent)

Still, there are moments on Call the Comet that can give sharp-eared listeners a brief flashback here and there. Early single “Hi Hello”, with its flicker of “Well I Wonder”-like strum and a flash of synth from the outro of “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”, has already been remarked upon for its resemblance to Marr’s original signature style. If one squints long enough, they can convince themselves they’re spotting more Easter eggs in the corners: an echo of the charging drums from “The Queen is Dead” in “The Tracers”, a touch of “Hand in Glove” guitar chord and cadence in “Day In Day Out”, the fast funk stroke of “Barbarism Begins at Home” in the opening of “Bug”. (…)
Call the Comet finds Marr in his element, making articulate, direct rock ‘n’ roll with an ultimately optimistic sense of purpose.
(The Line Of Best Fit)

Which is probably why his solo album count - if you include his latest one, Call the Comet - is at a measly three. In a way, it's unfortunate that he's happier sharing the spotlight because when he lets loose as a bandleader and songwriter, the results are often deeply satisfying and you wonder why he doesn't do it more often. While his first two solo albums – The Messenger and Playland – were released only about a year and a half apart, Call the Comet comes nearly four years after its predecessor. That may be partly because Marr was working on his well-received memoir, Set the Boy Free, but whatever the case, the delay between albums has given Marr a chance to recharge his batteries. And it shows. Call the Comet is a tuneful, energetic collection of songs that evoke a youthful 54-year-old who still has plenty of good ideas up his sleeve.
(Pop Matters)

Johnny Marr in Deutschland:
02.12.18 München, Technikum
03.12.18 Köln, Gloria
05.12.18 Hamburg, Grünspan