I’ve been waiting for this record. In the past few years I’ve developed an appreciation for the ex-Smiths guitarist. Johnny Marr is well into a successful solo career delivering his fifth solo album.
The Age of Everything (2026) was well worth the wait. What’s the album about?
“We’re now in the fourth decade of what you could call the digital revolution, which I genuinely believe is as significant in evolutionary terms as the Industrial Revolution. So, it’s to do with overstimulation – being overwhelmed and slightly overcooked,” said Marr recently.
Sonically, it’s a fascinating soundscape. Marr has been an underrated guitarist ever since that 1980s Brit-pop thing The Smiths did. He’s full throttle on this album, with lots of phasing, delays and jangly riffs all over this recording. It’s all quite digestible without losing its edge. This album rocks.
“The guitar tones and layers, a signature architecture that decades ago made Marr a formative influence on indie rock, drive the record. The result is an album that flows song to song with effortless beauty, showing craftsmanship that pays attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture.” Glide Magazine
The review above is spot-on. Although the songs are all different, Marr creates a pathway from the first song to the last as they are part of a tapestry. However, they do not suffer from “sameness” as Marr creates different textures with each song.
If you like his guitar work on The Smiths albums, this is for you. The riffs are catchy and his playing is quite creative.
01 “Spin”
02 “Beyond The Rain”
03 “It’s Time”
04 “How Come”
05 “Ophelia”
06 “That Feeling”
07 “In And Out Of Love”
08 “Just Once More”
09 “Fire With Fire”
10 “All In A Life”
Written in London and recorded in Manchester, with material developed while on tour across the east coast of North America, the record “captures the energy and tensions” of Marr’s home city, and is “sharp, fast and dynamic, filled with ideas and possibilities”, according to a press release about the album.
As a guitarist/songwriter, I wouldn’t put Marr in a category which we normally try to do in order to simplify the understanding of something. The artists\bands of the 1980s like Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Paul Westerberg, Graham Parker, Rick Nielsen, Jamie West-Oram, The Edge and Mike Scott all used different sounds and styles as they wrote. The object was to be familiar, yet innovative, play something that hooks the listener but is your own. Go back and listen to The Smiths, what you hear is Marr’s guitar and Morrissey’s croon – those things were The Smiths’ trademark. Through the years, Marr has collaborated with a variety of artists, primarily his writing and guitar intonations. Marr’s guitar brings enough flavor, not to overpower, but to create a hybrid new taste.
That’s deeper into Marr than I wanted to go, but his style is smart, efficient and dialed in like a laser. That’s how I would describe The Age of Everything, Marr’s best work as a solo artist.
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