Johnny Marr – The Age Of Everything

Johnny Marr has nothing left to prove. As guitarist and co-writer of The Smiths, he defined the sound of an entire generation in the eighties, and since then he has worked with names such as Talking Heads, Pet Shop Boys, Bryan Ferry and Hans Zimmer. His solo career began relatively late, in 2013, but has since produced four albums, with 2022’s “Fever Dreams Pts 1-4” as the provisional high point. With “The Age Of Everything”, his fifth solo album, the Mancunian returns to his home city for what he himself calls his most cathartic work to date.

The album was partly created on the road, during a tour along the east coast of North America, where Marr tested the songs live before taking them back with him to his studio in Manchester. That energy from the stage can be felt in opener “Spin”, a song that revolves around overstimulation in the digital age. Marr sings about a head full of noise, supported by his characteristic shimmering guitar lines, but with a darker, almost gothic edge that you do not immediately expect from him. It is a powerful opening, precise and melodic, with just that little bit more shadow.

“Beyond The Rain” and “It’s Time” maintain the energy with driving rhythms and those typical Marr riffs that lodge themselves in your head after one listen. “Ophelia” in particular stands out, a song in which the tension between optimism and unease takes centre stage, precisely the theme around which the entire album revolves. Marr refuses to portray the world as purely bleak, and that balance between criticism and hope gives the album substance.

Towards the middle, the pace drops slightly with “How Come” and “That Feeling”, in which the guitar parts are given room to breathe without losing the urgency of the opener. “In And Out Of Love” brings a little more movement again, while “Just Once More” is one of the album’s more restrained moments. Title track “Fire With Fire”, on the other hand, sounds fierce and direct, with a tightly produced mix that shows that Marr, even after forty years in the business, still knows how to write a guitar hook. Closing track “All In A Life” brings the whole thing to a calm conclusion, as a kind of reconciliation with everything that came before.

What makes this album strong is that Marr does not try to outdo his past. There is no attempt to reinvent The Smiths, no cheap nostalgia. Instead, “The Age Of Everything” sounds like the work of a guitarist who knows exactly who he is and what he has to say, and delivers it with a freshness that many much younger artists could envy. Ten songs, no filler, no unnecessary length, simply tight, sharp guitar pop that appeals to both the head and the feet.

“The Age Of Everything” proves that Johnny Marr, decades after his breakthrough, still sounds relevant without desperately trying to keep up with trends. It is an album that captures the tension of these times without drowning in it, and that has just enough conviction to draw in a new generation of listeners. (8/10) (BMG)