Johnny Marr has released new song ‘The Bright Parade’ about "vacuous modern day reality stars".
The former Smiths star will play Nile Rodgers’ Meltdown festival at The Royal Festival Hall in London tonight (08.08.19), and just in time for the headline performance, he has surprised fans with the new track.
The psychedelic number follows recent single ‘Armatopia’, Marr’s first music since acclaimed 2018 LP ‘Call The Comet’.
On how shows like ‘Love Island’ inspired the track, Marr explained: "I think this track is more of a story.
"’Armatopia’ was this kind of eco-disco and I didn’t want to hide that, but ‘The Bright Parade’ is more of a psychedelic musical track.
"Maybe I’ve been quite preoccupied with the cosmos over the last couple of years but it’s the perfect metaphor for the star system – whether that’s a rock star or a movie star or a reality TV star.
"I think half my mind was still in the cosmos and the other half was around these vacuous modern day reality stars.
"”The Bright Parade’ puts the two together and puts it on top of a psychedelic backing track.
"But everything I’m doing as a musician and a creative person is some kind of reaction to what’s going on in the world, if only as a way to escape.
"The act of getting in a studio and recording and making music with a band does feel a necessary escape from what’s going on."
The 55-year-old rocker says he plans to release more singles before working on a new record and admitted he likes releasing tracks when he wants to "surprise" fans.
In an interview with DIY.com, he added: "It feels like there’s a new way of doing things, [with artists] putting out standalone tracks, but in a way you can compare it to the early ’80s when you could just put singles out. Some of The Smiths’ better known songs were often not on LPs, they were just tracks we put out in between, so I’m used to that and I know the benefit of that.
"I’m quite happy about that development in the way people consume music; I don’t feel like I’m hankering after anything from the old days.
"So that’s where I’m at at the moment, and I might put a couple more out before doing another record.
"I deliberately wanted to write something different after ‘Armatopia’ that was quite accessible and that’s something where, if you’re brave enough in this culture of just putting songs out, then you can go anywhere you want.
"If you’re obsessed with getting on the radio then that’s up to you, but I like surprising people with releases.
"I have absolutely no idea what I’m gonna do next."
Johnny Marr takes aim at reality stars on The Bright Parade
