Album Review: Johnny Marr - The Messenger

While Johnny Marr is far better known as a guitarist and songwriter, this is not the first time that he has stepped into the role of singer and lyricist – he did that in Johnny Marr & The Healers, his band since 2000. However, this is the first time he has released a solo album. Admittedly though, he is helped out by The Healers' Max James on bass and James Doviak (simply credited as “Doviak”) on backing vocals, as well as Jack Mitchell (Haven) on drums. It's also somewhat of a family affair with Marr's daughter, Sonny, on backing vocals, and son, Nile, adding some guitar work. Thankfully, this solo album sees Marr lose the cock-rock stylings that made The Healers so disappointing. Ultimately, he has put together 12 tracks that are more than a few rungs higher up the musical quality ladder than those The Healers have produced to date.

There are a number of fine examples of Marr's guitar greatness, but none more so than on Say Demesne. We get to hear him embark on a magnificent solo that is a fine example as to why his name is still said with a healthy degree of reverence. New Town Velocity is wonderfully reminiscent of the guitar work in Get The Message by Electronic (Marr's band with New Order's Bernard Sumner). Marr's vocal delivery is spot on, too, being neither forced nor too relaxed.

Marr is, without a doubt, an indie music deity, having achieved godlike status as the guitarist and co-songwriter for the legendary and quintessentially English band The Smiths in the 1980s, so the question must be asked whether or not this release would hold up if it did not have Marr's name giving it a boost. Fortunately, the answer is a resounding “yes”.