Morrissey has accused Capitol Records of intentionally “sabotaging” his new album.
The 63-year-old singer “voluntarily” left the label, as well as his management company, in December 2022 after signing a deal with the the previous year and now the former Smiths frontman – who was dropped by BMG in 2020 – has accused them of refusing to release his 14th solo LP ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ or return the records to him.
A statement on his website read: “Morrissey is ‘too diverse’ for Universal Music Group. Capitol Records (Los Angeles) will not, after all, release Morrissey’s 2021 album ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’. At the same time, Capitol Records (Los Angeles) are holding on to the album.
“Although Morrissey officially signed to Capitol Records Los Angeles, there has been no mention of Morrissey on Capitol’s website or on their Artists roster.
“Morrissey has said that although he does not believe that Capitol Records in Los Angeles signed ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ in order to sabotage it, he is quickly coming around to that belief.”
The post then linked to an article on Medium written by Fiona Dodwell, which argued Morrissey’s current unsigned status “proves a lack of true diversity in music”.
She wrote: “He has been continuously criticised and crucified in the press for being frank and outspoken. Seen in this light, it seems being ‘diverse’ nowadays really means to conform – or face being rejected. You can be diverse, but only this way, not that way,’ the small print seems to say.”
The ‘Big Mouth Strikes Again’ hitmaker had planned to release ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ this month but announced in November it had been delayed, with no new release date offered.
A brief statement at the time read: “‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ is no longer scheduled for a February release, as stated by this site.
“Its fate is exclusively in the hands of Capitol Records (Los Angeles).”