Still Morrissey

Friday 06 March 2026

Morrissey – Make-Up Is a Lie (2026)

The euphoric thrill of a new Morrissey album. The first in almost six years.

Morrissey is still number one for me. Always has been. Still top of the pops.

I did lose a bit of interest around 2017, though I never stopped listening to his records. But seeing him again in 2023 at the Troxy in London reignited things. Then again at Co-op Live here in Manchester last year.

He’s still got it.

Ten years to the day older than me, Morrissey. We share a birthday. He’ll be 67 this year. I saw some footage of him at the O2 the other day — absolutely still got it.

Did I mention he still has it?

Of course, people still give him a hard time. The bad press continues. Same old nonsense. The British press has been out for him for years. It’s pathetic.

The Times gave the album two stars. I couldn’t even read the review without subscribing. Yawn. The Guardian weren’t keen on the recent gig either. Easy target. Morrissey doesn’t care, and nor do his supporters such as me.

Who gives a toss what these knobs think?

Half the time it feels like younger writers doing it out of habit. Morrissey is Morrissey. He’s one of those artists where a gig announcement appears on Facebook and the comments instantly fill with people saying, “Oh, he moans.”

Yes. He does.

That’s rather the point.

And he wails. And sings quite beautifully. His voice is still there, untouched by the sands of time.

People often say a Morrissey album is a return to form. I’ve never quite understood that. How do you return to form when you never really lose it?

He even managed to make a covers album sound interesting.

It’s great to see Alan Whyte back on board here, co-writing songs on what is shaping up to be a rather magnificent new album.

I’m writing this on the morning of release. Three tracks had already come out in advance. That’s fine. I’ve listened to them, but they sound better in the context of the album.

I don’t really like the whole singles-before-the-album thing anymore. It doesn’t do what it used to do. I’d rather wait and hear the whole record.

Standouts for me so far are You’re Right It’s Time, The Night Pop Dropped, and Make-Up Is a Lie.

There’s also a wonderful cover of Roxy Music’s Amazonia.

This is Morrissey being Morrissey — which, in truth, he’s been doing ever since The Smiths split up.

You can place songs from this album next to Viva Hate without them feeling out of place.

He hasn’t aged.

And the music hasn’t aged either.

You don’t really need standout tracks on an album like this. The record works as a whole, and it’s still very fresh in my ears.

We need people like Morrissey in the world of music. I can’t imagine Harry Styles still doing this when he’s 67 and Morrissey and I are long gone.

It was quite ironic that Morrissey was playing the O2 in London on the same night the Brit Awards were happening in Manchester. But Morrissey has never had anything to do with that sort of thing anyway.

It’s funny when you think about it. The indie stars — Tim Burgess, Bez and Shaun Ryder, Noel Gallagher — all those North-West figures turning up at things like the Brits.

Morrissey has just been Morrissey.

He does his own thing. Nobody sounds like him. Nobody is him.

This new album still gives me the same thrill I had when I got Southpaw Grammar and Your Arsenal into my grubby paws on the day they were released.

But because I’ve seen him twice since the last album came out, I’m probably more excited about this one than I’ve been about a Morrissey record for quite some time. Possibly since Ringleader of the Tormentors in 2006.

There was a point when I thought he might not release any new music again. All those battles with record companies.

I think he still has another album waiting in the wings — Bonfire of Teenagers. Hopefully that finally sees the light of day at some point.

But for now, this is wonderful stuff.

It’s made my week. Made my day, really.

I’ve been looking forward to this all week. I don’t often count down to albums anymore. But I did with this one.

And then it arrived.

I hate the phrase “it dropped”. No. It was released.

This is only my first play-through, and I actually started writing this while listening to it. Some of these songs will definitely grow on me. They always do.

A first listen never tells you everything. You need three or four plays before the picture becomes clear.

I’ll listen again later when I’m walking Bowie out in nature. That’s when albums really reveal themselves.

But yes.

Great.

It’s been too long.

Far too long.

END OF LISTENING LOG

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