Some fans may have thought it would never happen, but Morrissey has announced a brand new album.
The former Smiths frontman has revealed that the new record, Make-Up Is a Lie, is set for release on March 6 via Sire/Warner Bros.
The Morrissey new album announcement comes with the release of the title track, ending a three-year wait since production was completed.
Per Rolling Stone, Morrissey has again teamed with producer Joe Chiccarelli, who helmed his previous four releases, including 2020’s I Am Not a Dog on a Chain and 2019’s covers collection, California Son, Morrissey recorded the album at Studio La Fabrique in the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence region of Southern France.
The recording sessions featured contributions from longtime collaborators Jesse Tobias, Alain Whyte, and Gustavo Manzur, alongside Carmen Vandenberg, Juan Galeano, Camila Grey, and Brendan Buckley. The album comprises eleven newly written songs and includes a cover of Roxy Music’s 1973 classic “Amazona” – notable given Morrissey’s documented admiration for the band, having previously performed their “Street Life” during his 2006 European tour.
Originally titled You’re Right, It’s Time, the album’s path to release proved challenging. Despite completing production three years ago, Morrissey struggled to secure distribution, a situation that appears resolved with Sire’s involvement. The delay coincided with extensive touring across Europe and America, where he performed sets mixing Smiths classics with solo material, though many shows faced last-minute cancellations – a recurring pattern in his career.
Recent tour difficulties continue to plague the singer. His planned American tour opener on 3rd January in Rancho Mirage, California was postponed due to “an adverse reaction to a prescription medication.” A scheduled January 6 San Diego performance was subsequently cancelled without explanation. The tour is now set to resume on January 10 in San Antonio, though uncertainty remains given his track record.
The Morrissey new album arrives amid ongoing tensions with former bandmates. In 2024, he claimed to have agreed to a Smiths reunion tour, stating that guitarist Johnny Marr “ignored the offer.” Marr’s response was characteristically direct: “I didn’t ignore the offer. I said no.”
