News: Living icon Johnny Marr announces ‘Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr’ album and unveils shimmering new track ‘Somewhere’ as a taster. Out through BMG on 3 November 2023.

It doesn’t seem that long ago since the legendary Johnny Marr released his debut solo album – itself a long time coming given his storied career. It’s a bit of a shock to the system to realise this was ten years ago now. After four solo albums (including a double album), today, Marr announces his new collection entitled ‘Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr’, due for release on 3 November through BMG. The new album also contains two new tracks, one of which, ‘Somewhere’ is unveiled today as a taster.

‘Somewhere’, of course, jingles and jangles with an archetypal heady Marr shimmer, accompanied by Marr’s ear for melody and a great pop hook.

Marr wrote the song whilst on tour with The Killers, and Blondie, in 2022. Speaking about the track, Marr said:

I’ve played a lot of arenas over the years, and in terms of songwriting, there’s nowhere to hide. For a song to work, it has to be a banger. I know it’s almost uncool to think in those terms, but I grew up in a house where my parents listened to Motown, where you couldn’t get a song released if it wasn’t full of hooks.

It fits in perfectly with his solo work so far:

‘Somewhere’ is available to download and stream here.

Personally curated by Johnny Marr, ‘Spirit Power’ encompasses songs from across four widely acclaimed UK top ten solo albums (2013’s The Messenger, 2014’s Playland, 2018’s Call The Comet, 2022 double album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4), non-album single releases ‘Armatopia’, ‘The Priest’ (w/ Maxine Peake), two brand new songs, plus a cover version of Depeche Mode’s ‘I Feel You’, released for Record Store Day 2015.

Marr says of the collection, which reflects his inherent songwriting craft and ear for melody:

It’s a conversation I have from time to time with [Pet Shop Boys’] Chris Lowe, about how much harder it is to write songs that you want to listen to in the daytime. It’s easier to do something that’s perceived as cool if it’s a bit moody. But, for me, the mission with these records was to make songs that you could listen to on the way to school, on the way to the gym, on the way back from work – you know, in the way that you had with, say, Blondie.

You can pre-order ‘Spirit Power’ here and will be vailable on heavyweight 2LP, CD and a limited Deluxe 2CD featuring additional material. Independent record shops have a limited gold 2LP while HMV will carry a limited Cobalt blue 2LP.

Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr – Deluxe 2CD Track Listing:

Armatopia

New Town Velocity

Easy Money

Spirit Power & Soul

Hi Hello

Somewhere

The Messenger

I Feel You

The Answer

Dynamo

Spiral Cities