Album Review: Johnny Marr - ‘The Age of Everything’

Legendary musician and guitar pioneer Johnny Marr is back with his latest solo effort, The Age of Everything. It’s lead by the single “Spin”, which features Marr’s signature guitar work he made famous as being the musical mastermind behind The Smiths’ fame. The track features some great percussion that flows so well with Marr on guitar and his vocals are in this reviewer’s opinion, extremely underrated.

The Age of Everything is the fifth solo LP for the English musical savant. He follows up lead single “Spin” with “Beyond the Rain”, a strong indie track that clocks in at just over four minutes and easily could have been the lead single as well. Marr’s guitar throughout the record is simply masterful, and there are few guitarists in alt music today that haven’t lifted something from Marr.

“It’s Time” is another strong song from the record, which features guitar progressions reminiscent of his more up tempo work with The Smiths. However, without Morrissey’s booming vocals, I think it lets the melody soar more. Especially musically. It also features some vocal accompaniment of a chorus with which Marr engages in a bit of call and response.

“Ophelia” comes midway through the record and again features strong melodies led by Marr’s guitar, but the way he is able to accompany his work with strong performances on percussion, it once again leads to a well-rounded track. There is a reason why Marr is seen as one of the most influential musicians to ever pick up a guitar. He knows just what a track calls for.

What you don’t hear talked about enough is Marr’s vocal work. I think his performance on “Ophelia” shows why he’s simply masterful at giving just enough for the track, without making one aspect, (guitar, vocals, percussion) take over. He effortlessly flutters into a bit of a falsetto and implements a subtle vibrato that many musicians today would overdo.

My favorite track on the record has to be “In and Out of Love”. Which begins fast and slows it down a bit to allow Marr to shine vocally. There simply aren’t many that can build a song the way Marr can, it comes with practice and he’s been doing it professionally since about 1982.

Simply put, The Age of Everything is a winner. It once again shows why he’s influenced countless musicians and has collaborated in his storied career with everyone from his bandmates in The Smiths, The Killers, Billie Eilish, The Pretenders, Noel Gallagher, to Modest Mouse for a time. I think that this one is some of his best work to date.

Rating - 10/10