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Morrissey - Years Of Refusal (Polydor, 2009) - Mojo

Indie rock's Mr Bridger, still in possession of 'it'.

He knows all about refusing for years; after 1997's Maladjusted and before 2004's You Are The Quarry, Morrissey simply withdrew to Los Angeles, retaining a regal silence bar the odd tour and curiosities with cool sleevenotes like this. Years Of Refusal, an album full of powerful, pulse-stimulating tunes sung by a charismatic provocateur in full control of his instrument, is also full of people hanging in stasis, from the chemically-coshed protagonist of Something Is Squeezing My Skull to the paralysed, isolated narrator of Black Cloud. There is also doubt, and intimations of mortality that seem more than the ghoulish chain pulling of yore. Is pained valediction You Were Good In Your Time addressed to David Bowie, Morrissey's one time tourmate, or is he talking to a future version of himself? And do its final two minutes of spectral underwater atmospheres and muted voices speaking French attempt to capture the sound of dying itself? Certainly, One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell, with its declaration, "And when I die I want to go to hell!" draws attention to the extinction that awaits us all. Best not to dwell on it too much. But as All You Need Is Me points out, we'll miss him when he's gone.

Clive Prior

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 24/04/2009