This ex-Smiths guitarist has likely never had time to feel bored, being part of numerous bands (The The, The Cribs, Electronic, even Modest Mouse and The Healers) and collaborating with many musicians (Brian Ferry, Jane Birkin, Talking Heads, etc). After Call the Comet in 2019, his most critically acclaimed solo album, Johnny Marr returns with Fever Dreams PTs 1-4, an ambitious four-part double album, of which he published Parts 1 and 2 in 2021. This fourth LP is more extensive. “There’s a wide range of influences and a very broad sound that I’ve been developing for some time, from the end of the Smiths until now, and I can hear it on this record,” he says. “There are so many streams of music within the album. We didn’t do this intentionally, but I think I have a vocabulary of sound. And I’m very happy that I’ve been able to tap into that.” Although fans aren’t likely to be left puzzled by the overall sound, the track list is surprising.
There’s no obvious continuity, nor a clear division into 4 parts; all the tracks seem to pull in opposite directions. The album moves from song to song as if playing on shuffle; from the new wave/gospel single Spirit, Power and Soul (which sounds a little like Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)), to heavy pop (Receiver) and light pop (Lightning People); from dreamy 90’s Britpop (Ariel) to the soaring post-punk notes in The Speed of Love and the soft guitar on Human. Like Call the Comet, Fever Dreams was written and recorded at the Crazy Face Factory, a studio housed on the top floor of an old factory in Manchester. This studio became Marr HQ and featured the usual team: co-producer James Doviak, bassist Iwan Gronow and drummer Jack Mitchell. To complement the album’s subtle pop flavour, American singer Meredith Sheldon provided backing vocals, flying in from Massachusetts and accompanying Johnny on tour. There’s no doubt this Mancunian is travelling an untrodden path. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz