As we all do as we age, Morrissey has changed over the decades, but only slightly, and that's part of the issue. The sounds of his albums are similar, and that is a good thing. His voice is iconic, and still somehow unusual after more than 40 years of making music. The guitar sound goes along with what he wants, if at times he's gone from mellow to harder rock.
But what hasn't worked out well are, strangely, his lyrics. One should not try to dispute that the former Smiths frontman is one of the best wordsmiths of rock ever, let alone since 1982. But where he once made all of us wanderers feel included in even his most personal and depressing tunes, his fits of verbal rage over the last decade have made us feel alienated.
Where has our leader gone, the one he always pretended not to want to be, but knew his every move emphasized his stance in our world? He's gone more "get off my lawn" than fawning pariah.
Morrissey's Make-Up is a Lie isn't worth your time
Which leads us to his first album since 2020, Make-Up is a Lie. The album was recorded in 2023, then half the songs were removed, new songs were added, the record changed titles at least three times as Morrissey looked for a record company to release the project, and now here we are with an album that is either three years old or brand new.
The question is whether we want it in our collection at all? We shouldn't expect The Queen is Dead (or anything close to Smiths records or the first decade of Morrissey's solo career), but the album might still be good, right?
The album begins with two songs, "You're Right, It's Time" and the self-titled track, which were at one time or another also going to be (or were) the name of the record. Sonically, they don't differ all that much. Both have a slight alt-rock-Western film feel. Lyrically, the self-titled track gets muddled by Morrissey simply repeating the name of the song in the chorus. It's boring.
"Notre-Dame" has an interesting polish, but seemingly would be better as a buried track on a soundtrack for a film that pays homage to James Bond, but isn't good enough for Bond. The short guitar solo about halfway through sounds as if it is played by someone who hasn't ever played the instrument before.
Morrissey's cover of Roxy Music's "Amazona" starts off strong, but then dips in the second act of the song and there is no tension where there should be. Bryan Ferry would be disappointed, and it isn't the kind of mistake a younger Morrissey would make.
"Headache" appears to strain for the kind of wicked win that Pulp made so effortlessly on Different Class. Again, however, the lyrics let the icon down. He reverts to his personal attacks, telling the subject of his song over and over in the final refrain, "I don't like you."
It is at this point that the listener might begin to realize Morrissey has stopped having the ability to drop biting quips with a dangerous sense of humor. He has stopped being at all humorous in an intelligent way.
As the album works its way through melodies and sounds that strain to keep one awake, other errors appear. "Zoom Zoom the Little Boy" begins lyrically with the name of the song, followed by "he only thinks about joy," and then repeats.
"The Night Pop Dropped" isn't much better, but at least it implies that Morrissey recalls how good he used to be when he made songs such as "November Spawned a Monster." The jangling guitars of Johnny Marr have turned into a disco-fused jam by a less-talented instrumentalist on the track, though, so the happiness of finding a potentially good song on the album feels hollow.
"Kerching Kerching" sounds like the penultimate song of an off-Broadway musical that will never be well-reviewed. The tune isn't completely awful, but coming after so many songs that sound sonically similar, it offers little.
The album finishes as it began, sadly. "Lester Bangs" is an ode to the once-great rock critic, and if the music that backed the vocals was more aggressive, we might have had a winner. Instead, the song, as well as closers "Many Icebergs Ago" and "The Monsters of Pig Alley," all sound like everything else on the disappointing album.
Morrissey should have spent more time listening to his prior victories, such as "Speedway," and mimicking his concerts (when he decides not to cancel one): Those deviate from mellow to heavy, and the contrast is worthy. Make-Up is a Lie is one long, boring trip through what might have been, and what will never be again.
Rating: 3 out of 10