Johnny Marr To Release Second Solo Album 'Playland' In October

Former Smiths guitarist's Johnny Marr has announced he will release his second solo album titled 'Playland' on October 6 via Warner.

The works for the follow up to his last year's debut 'The Messenger', commenced in London in the Spring as soon as the year of touring supporting the album came to a close, and finds Marr continuing the creative connection with collaborator and co-producer Doviak as well as the other musicians who performed on the album and accompanying tour.

As Johnny states: “When The Messenger came out I kept on writing. I liked that the band had a momentum going on tour and a connection with the audience, and I thought that energy would be good to capture on the new record.”

Written around a common theme of “songs that move at the speed of life,” ‘Playland’ captures much of the spirit that made ‘The Messenger’ so memorable with energetic, post-punk songwriting complemented by Johnny Marr’s characteristic guitar style, thought-provoking lyrical ideas and poised vocal phrasing. “It’s important to sound like your environment and on this record that’s London and Manchester,” he adds. “The feeling of the cities and the people make it into the music.”

According to the press released, the title ‘Playland’ is inspired by ‘Homo ludens’, a 1938 book by the highly influential Dutch cultural theorist Johan Huizinga which explores the concept of play as a precursor and principal element of cultural development.

The tracklist for 'Playland' is as follows:

01. Back In The Box
02. Easy Money
03. Dynamo
04. Candidate
05. 25 Hours
06. The Trap
07. Playland
08. Speak Out Reach Out
09. Boys Get Straight
10. This Tension
11. Little King

Pre-order your copy here.

Johnny Marr On Releasing Autobiography: "Is going to happen"

Following Morrissey's well-publicised recent memoirs, former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr has revealed that he is set to begin writing his autobiography after signing a book deal.

Talking with Brooklyn Began recently, the Smiths legend said: 

"I've had so many offers and so many people advising me that my story is worth it, but I understand it's something that I have to do."

"I'll do it in the next couple of years. I'm into from the stance that I want it to be so thorough that I don’t make a record or tour whilst I was doing it. It is gonna happen, and I've already made an agreement with a publisher for it, so I will get it done." 

As well as his now seminal work with The Smiths in the 80's, Johnny Marr has worked with many different musicians and bands on a lot of projects, including Electronic, The The, Modest Mouse and The Cribs.

Marr released his debut solo album 'The Messenger' in February.

Watch: Johnny Marr Reveals New Video For "New Town Velocity"

Johnny Marr has revealed the video for his latest single "New Town Velocity" taken from the critically acclaimed album 'The Messenger', released back in February via Sire/ADA . 

The song is part of our current playlist www.koolrockradio.com and was inspired by Marr's own story of the day he left school aged fifteen to pursue a life as a musician and features him in the council estate of Wythenshawe where he grew up. 

The video, directed by  David Barnes (who directed the Upstarts video and art directed by Subset) was shot around various buildings and areas of Greater Manchester and is based on the Psychogeography philosophy of the Situationist Movement.

Watch it below.

Watch: Johnny Marr Share New Video For "The Messenger"

Former Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr has unveiled the video for his debut solo single “The Messenger”.

The song is the title track to his upcoming debut solo album, out on February 26th via Sire/ADA in U.S.  and in UK via Warner Bros. Along with “The Messenger”, song titles include “I Want the Heartbeat”, “The Right Thing Right”, “Upstart”, “Word Starts Attack”, and “European Me”.

Watch the video below.