The unbearable lightness of being Morrissey
Ahead of his 50th birthday, Morrissey talks exclusively to Hot Press about the sexual nature of singing, letting go in the studio, being blacklisted by the UK's Radio One and how he approaches songwriting.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 03 Apr 2009
Stephen Patrick Morrissey will reach the milestone year of 50 this May, but rather than slink quietly into dotage (as if!), the singer has delivered an album, Years Of Refusal, that is both strident and defiant. Produced by the late Jerry Finn (Blink 182, Green Day, Rancid, Sum 41, The Offspring), who died of a cerebral haemorrhage last summer, Morrissey’s tenth solo album is amongst the most committed (and certainly the heaviest) of his career. The apparently oppositional forces of Finn’s production, which at times verges on the Pistols-ian, and the singer’s vocal range – sometimes vulnerable, sometimes shockingly full-blooded – make for a collection of songs that are impressive in their scope, ranging from the despair of ‘Black Cloud’ to the tenderness of ‘Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed’ to the classically Morriseyonian sweep of ‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’ (“Only stone and steel accept my love”). There are even a number of widescreen epics (‘When Last I Spoke To Carol’) embellished with Mark Isham’s gallant trumpet. In short, the man’s never sounded so flamboyant or fearless.
Here, in an exclusive interview with Hot Press, the singer reflects on working with Finn, his childhood in depressed ’70s Manchester, why he’ll never inflict parenthood on an innocent child, his thoughts on the US presidential election, his love of postwar LA film icons, and how you learn to forgive yourself with the onset of age.
PETER MURPHY: You’ve gravitated towards a more and more muscular sound with each successive album. Did the forceful arrangements on Years Of Refusal, plus the predominantly live sound, push you as a singer?
MORRISSEY: Yes, it did. I moved up several notches with tracks such as ‘It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore,’ ‘I’m OK By Myself’ and ‘Sorry Doesn’t Help.’ I wasn’t sure if I’d make it. But I did. There’s a natural timidity about pushing the voice too much just in case you begin to sound rockist. Spin magazine reviewed the album and said, “Morrissey’s vocal range has narrowed with age,” which is laughable since the opposite has happened.
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