Morrissey Central "Rebels Without Applause" (November 25, 2022)

FRIDAY, 25 NOVEMBER, 2022 :
First 'single' release in exactly three years.

Morrissey's Rebels Without Applause is available today worldwide (including Britain) on Spotify, courtesy of Capitol Records. The track is produced by Andrew Watt.
This is Morrissey's first 'single' release since 'It's Over', taken from the 'California Son' album in November 2019. 'It's Over' peaked at number 1 in the UK vinyl chart.

Morrissey's next live appearance is on Monday, 28 November at The Anthem in Washington DC.

Rebels Without Applause - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - Rebels Without Applause

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

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Just to help Central:
It's Over was released as an instant grat & pre-order bonus - February 25/26, 2019 (followed by Morning Starship - both getting airplay).
It's Over was then nightmarishly released as a physical 7" - (initially December 20, 2019) January 24, 2020.
The first actual "single" from California Son was Wedding Bell Blues 7" - May 10, 2019.
Regards,
FWD.

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Media item:

• NME: "Morrissey shares ‘Rebels Without Applause’, his first new single in three years" - November 26, 2022

Related items:

• Rebels Without Applause released as a single track - initially on some region's YT, now to buy & stream (November 24, 2022)
• Fiona Dodwell: "Rebels Without Applause: New Morrissey Single Released" (November 25, 2022)

 

[The Wild Turkey]

Is "smolder on" out of time, or is it me?

Kinda sounds like Moz is singin' with a hand held mic
and that was just part of the take.
There's a bunch of little parts like that.

 

[js138]

It’s a good song, not great, but good. The pearl clutchers gotta chill out and just accept it for what it is. The production isn’t the best but I’m happy to not only be getting music from 63yo Moz, but music that’s good.

 

[Redacted]

This is the first time I’ve ever commented on anything within this forum/message board, and I didn’t think I’d ever post anything, because I really never felt moved to do so, however, with the release of the studio version of Rebels Without Applause, I felt compelled to come here, to open up and share this, my, absolute disdain of/for this track. It feels like it’s a joke, or, like something went wrong in the mixdown stage, or in the file transfer stage, and no one has noticed. I find myself hoping that it’s just a really bad f*** up within the management/higher-ups and it will soon be fixed. I know I sound like an overly dramatic twat, but this is all making me feel sick to my stomach. I’ve loved Morrissey for decades. His voice has matured beautifully over the years, and in many ways, gotten better. Also, I love the live version of this song, and I was pumped for the studio version. I mean, honestly, it’s the first Morrissey song that I cannot, and will not, listen to twice. Unless, that is, by some miracle, this all indeed turns out to be a goof, and it’s announced that all has been made right. I just cannot believe, refuse to believe, that Moz heard the finished product and was like, “Perfect!” “Nailed it!” I remember feeling strange when it first heard George Michael using heavy vocal efx. Obviously, George, like Moz, doesn’t need vocal “enhancing,” and although I wish neither artist used any at all, I ultimately came around to feel that George made use of it quite well. Anywhoo… I’ve rambled on long enough. Apologies for the rant. Goodnight.

Hi and welcome. I know what you mean, it just sounds unfinished. I have heard mp3s of songs in different stages of progress (friends of mine, not Morrissey, lol) and that is what this reminds me of. They would always send to me for a listen but they were never to be released and this one sounds like it was released by accident.

 

[Robert Lee]

What's on the B side, please ?

Hazard x

There isn't one for this single. Such a shame the way B sides are becoming a thing of the past. It makes buying the single really special when there are two or three exclusive tracks on there (Nirvana had amazing b sides). For me the Moz b sides from Maladjusted to Ringleader are quality songs, my personal favourite being I knew I was next.

 

[SeniorLife]

Does anybody know who wrote the music for Rebels without applause?

Go through yesterday’s thread. FWD has already posted all of this. As a general rule, 99% of correct information will be provided by our trusted FWD the day of.

Hope this helps.

 

[gashonthenail]

79p on Itunes UK. Has someone in the sales department recognsied that the production is sub-standard so they've knocked the price down from the usual 99p? If you can get over the poor production, it's a good pop single. Would sound great on the radio.

 

[ERT]

Fantastic song

 

[BookishBoy]

79p on Itunes UK. Has someone in the sales department recognsied that the production is sub-standard so they've knocked the price down from the usual 99p? If you can get over the poor production, it's a good pop single. Would sound great on the radio.

Yes, it's *almost* as if it's been designed as an experiment, this song, to appeal to casual / lost / non-fans of Morrissey:

* Make it sound like The Smiths? - check
* Make the subject matter as inoffensive and nostalgic as possible? - check
*Make his voice as "normal" as possible so it sounds more like someone's faint memory of Morrissey than actual Morrissey himself? - check

I love it, though, despite everything.

 

[ninetimesfined]

Can’t predict the future but I reckon this album has been produced very literally and ‘by numbers’. I reckon there’s a telephone ringing at the start of ‘Sure Enough’ - the live version does. And this track features - applause. I think this track - as I’ve mentioned in the other thread - is produced to sound like the lo-fi records and artists it serves as tribute to.

I have no issue with how the song sounds. I haven’t heard the mp3 leaked before the streaming versions but can I argue that this might be slightly lower quality than the official one? Maybe you can’t un-hear what didn’t sound good to you originally?

I remember a similar, albeit more muted, reaction when the studio version of ‘Bullfighter’ leaked. That was a Smiths-sounding song too.

 

[Morrissey_Sucks]

I must be deaf because I half/like it.

 

[federico]

a fantastic bass - line for a nice, catchy pop song .the production is finally measured
, with no redundancies a la Chiccarelli ....well done, Moz !

 

[Anonymous]

Come back Troy Tate - all is forgiven!

 

[Mike Thomas]

do you really want the whole album being auto-tuned?

I’m someone who works in audio production and engineering. As far as I can tell there does not seem to be any auto tune on this track at all.

 

[Anonymous]

The 'promotion' seems incredibly half-arsed, if not totally non-existent. No mention of this single on Morrissey's official Facebook or Twitter accounts, and wouldn't it make sense to tie this into some pre-orders for the actual 'Bonfire' album?

The official Youtube video only has 619 views and 33 likes so far. It's all very underwhelming.

 

[TheIronBridge]

I’m someone who works in audio production and engineering. As far as I can tell there does not seem to be any auto tune on this track at all.

Maybe some manual pitch corrections and vibrato?

 

[Thewlis]

The 'promotion' seems incredibly half-arsed, if not totally non-existent. No mention of this single on Morrissey's official Facebook or Twitter accounts, and wouldn't it make sense to tie this into some pre-orders for the actual 'Bonfire' album?

The official Youtube video only has 619 views and 33 likes so far. It's all very underwhelming.

5,194 views and 274 likes from where I’m viewing.
But only the Spotify numbers really interest me.

I like the song, the yodeling in his voice (if that’s what it is) not so much.

 

[Phranc & Open]

The 'promotion' seems incredibly half-arsed, if not totally non-existent. No mention of this single on Morrissey's official Facebook or Twitter accounts, and wouldn't it make sense to tie this into some pre-orders for the actual 'Bonfire' album?

The official Youtube video only has 619 views and 33 likes so far. It's all very underwhelming.

Maybe his nephew is too busy with workouts @ the gym and selling his own posters oslt.

 

[gashonthenail]

Yes, it's *almost* as if it's been designed as an experiment, this song, to appeal to casual / lost / non-fans of Morrissey:

* Make it sound like The Smiths? - check
* Make the subject matter as inoffensive and nostalgic as possible? - check
*Make his voice as "normal" as possible so it sounds more like someone's faint memory of Morrissey than actual Morrissey himself? - check

I love it, though, despite everything.

* Make Morrissey sound like a Smurf - check.

It does sound like someone has asked - how can we make the guitars sound as much like Johnny Marr as possible.

But it's a Moz single. I'm just glad we finally have something from BOT.

 

[Famous when dead]

The 'promotion' seems incredibly half-arsed, if not totally non-existent. No mention of this single on Morrissey's official Facebook or Twitter accounts, and wouldn't it make sense to tie this into some pre-orders for the actual 'Bonfire' album?

The official Youtube video only has 619 views and 33 likes so far. It's all very underwhelming.

Unfortunately, using multiple YT 'topics' rather than 1 main point of call via the Morrissey official YT will guarantee any lack of 'traction' the song might get.
Probably indicative of licensing issues. The previous tracks were gated by time zone and had us running to Japan & Australia for information asap, but were all centered around 1 video. By using region gating and 'topic' - people can't search it out easily and the views and 'likes' are split by geographical areas.
Perhaps the choice was out of their hands, but that won't help.
Quest managed an IG story about the 'single', but promotion is scant otherwise.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[Famous when dead]

Morrissey shares ‘Rebels Without Applause’, his first new single in three years

Morrissey shares 'Rebels Without Applause', his first new single in three years

Morrissey has shared new song 'Rebels Without Applause', his first new single in three years – check it out here.

www.nme.com

Added to OP.