Johnny Marr previews new compilation album with single ‘Somewhere’
The 16-track LP will highlight 10 years of Marr's solo career
By Emily Zemler
Johnny Marr will release a 16-track compilation album, Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr, on Nov. 3 via BMG. The musician has teased the forthcoming LP with a new single, “Somewhere,” which he wrote while on tour with The Killers and Blondie in 2022.
“I’ve played a lot of arenas over the years, and in terms of songwriting, there’s nowhere to hide,” Marr said in a statement. “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.”
Spirit Power will spotlight “the breadth of musicality across the first ten years” of Marr’s solo career, according to a press release. Marr curated the album himself, selecting from tracks across his four solo albums. It will also feature two new songs, “The Answer” and “Somewhere,” which were produced by Marr alongside co-producer James Doviak, and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “I Feel You,” originally released for Record Store Day in 2015.
A deluxe version of Spirit Power will include five previously-unheard demos and rarities, including demos of “Hi Hello” and “The Messenger.”
In December, Marr will celebrate 10 years as a solo artist by performing two shows in Manchester. He is set to perform at new venue Aviva Studios on Dec. 7 and 8 with a 30-piece orchestra led by conductor Fiona Brice. Tickets for the shows are on sale now.
“I’ve had two experiences of playing with an orchestra—Hans Zimmer, obviously, and also with Pet Shop Boys—but to actually sing in front of an orchestra playing my own work, that’s a first. You can’t help feeling a little bit emotional,” Marr explained in a statement. “It’s been really enjoyable working on the arrangements. I’ve been doing a lot of pre-orchestration work, and some of the songs have taken on a sort of highly pumped symphonic feel.”
Spirit Power is available to pre-order now.