Credit Andrew Cotterill
Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr
Released Today via New Voodoo for BMG, Listen Here
Celebrating The First Ten Years Of Johnny Marr’s Solo Career
Listen To New Song ‘The Answer’ Here
‘A Night With The Johnny Marr Orchestra’
Two Exclusive Concerts December 7 & 8 at Factory International, Manchester
Last Remaining Tickets Available Here
‘The Spirit Power Tour’ UK Headline Dates Begin April 2024
Tickets On Sale Here
3rd November – Today marks the release of Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr. A major new collection spotlighting the breadth of musicality across the first ten years of Johnny Marr’s prolific solo career.
Curated by Johnny, the deluxe 2CD edition of Spirit Power features 21 tracks including unheard demos, singles, rarities, and two brand new songs in ‘Somewhere’ and ‘The Answer’ – both shot through with a sense of attack and immediacy.
Current single ‘Somewhere’ was added straight to the BBC 6 Music and Radio 2 playlists, with the Spirit Power collection met with a wave of critical acclaim. MOJO described “a 10-year abundance of solo bangers”, Uncut Magazine praised “rousing urban utopian sounds”, Classic Pop heralded “concise pop songs” whilst CLASH confirmed “an unmatched sense of electricity”.
Now available to listen to for the first time today, ‘The Answer’ explodes into life from a spoken word intro delivered by Meredith Sheldon. It’s a song, notes Marr, that would get the approval of his 17 year-old self, mainlining the “narky energy” of Magazine and Buzzcocks, “It’s taken me a long time to write songs that are led by the singing rather than the guitar, and that’s definitely one of them.”
“I’ve played a lot of arenas over the years, and in terms of songwriting, there’s nowhere to hide. For a song to work, it has to be a banger. I know it’s almost uncool to think in those terms, but I grew up in a house where my parents listened to Motown, where you couldn’t get a song released if it wasn’t full of hooks.”
Spirit Power arrives amidst a wave of celebratory activity. Two very special homecoming concerts, titled A Night with the Johnny Marr Orchestra, will take place at Manchester’s Factory International Aviva Studios on 7th and 8th December where, for the first time, Johnny and his band will perform backed by a 30-piece orchestra. Led by conductor Fiona Brice, the orchestra has been assembled by Johnny specially for the event and is composed of musicians from across the North. Fans can expect a special set spanning Johnny’s entire 40-year career in what is tipped to be an epic finale to his 2023 live tour. Last remaining tickets are on sale here.
Spirit Power closely follows the publication of stunning new photography book, Marr’s Guitars. Its pages offer a portal into the symbiotic relationship between Johnny and the guitars that have informed not just the past decade, but the lifetime evolution of his iconic sound. Johnny describes, “the guitar book for people who wouldn’t usually own a guitar book”. With personal reflections and insights written by Johnny Marr, a foreword written by Hans Zimmer and photographs shot by Pat Graham, each guitar is identified with a crucial moment, a specific song, and each embodies a key aspect of Marr’s lifelong passion for songwriting. The book also features contributions from Noel Gallagher, Bernard Butler and Ed O’Brien.
Looking ahead, Johnny Marr has announced The Spirit Power Tour. UK headline shows will take place through Spring 2024 at some of the UK’s most iconic venues, beginning at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall on 2nd April and including London’s Eventim Apollo on 12th April, before closing at Nottingham’s Rock City on 14th April. Tickets are on sale here.
Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr is available now on heavyweight 2LP, CD and a limited Deluxe 2CD featuring additional material. Independent record shops have a limited gold 2LP while HMV will carry a limited Cobalt blue 2LP, available here. An exclusive limited double picture disc plus merchandise bundles are available from the official Johnny Marr store here.
Spirit Power Live Q&As & Signing Events
November 3 – Signing – Rough Trade East, London SOLD OUT
November 4 – Q&A – Banquet Records, Kingston SOLD OUT
November 7 – Q&A – Riley Smith Theatre, Leeds LAST TICKETS REMAIN HERE
November 8 – Signing – Assai, Edinburgh SOLD OUT
November 8 – Q&A – Assai, Glasgow SOLD OUT
2023 UK Headline Shows: A Night With The Johnny Marr Orchestra
Thursday 7th December – Aviva Studios, Factory international, Manchester
Friday 8th December – Aviva Studios, Factory international, Manchester
2024 UK Headline Shows: The Spirit Power Tour
Tuesday 2nd April – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
Wednesday 3rd April – Glasgow, Barrowlands
Friday 5th April – Leeds, O2 Academy
Saturday 6th April – Liverpool, Olympia
Sunday 7th April – Wolverhampton, Civic Halls
Tuesday 9th April – Cardiff, Great Hall
Wednesday 10th April – Bristol, O2 Academy
Friday 12th April – London, Eventim Apollo
Saturday 13th April – Brighton Dome
Sunday 14th April – Nottingham, Rock City
Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr – Deluxe 2CD Track Listing
- Armatopia
- New Town Velocity
- Easy Money
- Spirit Power & Soul
- Hi Hello
- Somewhere
- The Messenger
- I Feel You
- The Answer
- Dynamo
- Spiral Cities
- Night and Day
- Sensory Street
- Walk Into The Sea
- Candidate
- Tenement Time
- Hi Hello (Demo)
- Somewhere (Demo)
- The Answer (Crazy F Version)
- The Messenger (Demo)
- Speak out Reach Out (Crazy F Version)
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