Johnny Marr Defies ‘Age’ On New Album

Johnny Marr is still rocking as he approaches his 63rd birthday and will celebrate with his fifth solo full-length, The Age of Everything, this fall. The project arrives Oct. 2 from BMG and is led by the single “Spin,” which can be sampled below.

The 10-track effort was written in London, workshopped on tour in North America last year and recorded in the former Smiths guitarist’s hometown of Manchester, England. “Spin” and fellow album tracks “It’s Time” and “Ophelia” were frequently played during that run.

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“This is the record that’s been the most cathartic,” Marr says of the follow-up to his 2022 double LP Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. “The title came to me early in the process and became an inescapable idea. It seemed to sum up the way I think a lot of people are feeling. It’s all encompassing, but it’s not necessarily a negative statement. There’s a sense of overwhelm in the culture brought about by technology, but looking at it with a different light, there could also be a sense of possibility.”

In the fall of 2024, Marr told SPIN he was working on ideas on the road, which adds “a certain energy. My early songs were on a two-track tape recorder that I was able to trick into bouncing tracks together, and then I upgraded to a Teac Portastudio. I’ve kept up with technology, because it’s usually interesting and sometimes fun. Right now, I’ve gone right back to getting guitar ideas down on a looper and layering them without looking at a screen. I’m bored of looking at screens when I’m making music. It’s a long subject.”

Marr will play a handful of shows in the U.K. and Europe through July 23 in Granada, Spain. The lone gig on his fall agenda is Oct. 24 at OVO Arena Wembley in London.

Here is the track list for The Age of Everything:

1. Spin
2. Beyond the Rain
3. It’s Time
4. How Come
5. Ophelia
6. That Feeling
7. In and Out of Love
8. Just Once More
9. Fire With Fire
10. All in a Life

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.