Morrissey – Make-up Is A Lie – Album Review
by Killian Laher

After his well-publicised difficulty in finding a record company to release his albums, this is the first Morrissey album to receive a release in five years.  Look beyond the frankly weird album cover and his pretty awful politics and opinions, and you’ll find a songwriter who knows how to write good melodies and sing them.  The production this time out, courtesy of Joe Chiccarelli, is notable – previous albums had been a little… busy.  This time, his voice gets to breathe, and indeed dominate at times.

It opens with You’re Right It’s Time, a catchy, upbeat number, and it’s followed by the title track.  This one is vaguely flamenco-tinged, but the production allows his voice to take centre stage here.  Notre Dame is one of his finer songs, leaving aside the terrorism-implying lyrics, with a killer pop melody and chorus.

He covers Roxy Music, and Amazona is a typically offbeat choice, a deep cut off their 1973 Stranded album.  The song is built on a quirky little guitar riff, and Morrissey renders the song faithfully.  He seems inclined to look back to the seventies, with another song called after the deceased rock critic Lester Bangs.  He paints a picture of the rock critic as something of a neanderthal, but marries it to a fine melody, referencing Roxy Music again and the Dolls (New York, I guess).

It’s not all good; it sags a little in the middle, with odd tunes like “Zoom Zoom The Little Boy” and “The Night Pop Dropped.”  However, slow ballads Headache and Boulevard suit Morrissey’s voice well, and he saves two of his best songs for the end of the album.  Penultimate track Many Icebergs Ago is a compellingly dark and brooding strum. The Monsters of Pig Alley aims for the kind of singalong tune (First of the Gang To Die, I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris) that he still does as well as anyone, with some excellent guitar work for good measure.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these songs; they stand up with anything he’s released in the last decade or two.  It seems that, despite his right-wing politics, the old contrarian can still pen great tunes and sing them well.

Make-up Is A Lie