Johnny Marr explores the stars in ‘The Bright Parade’
After a brilliant gig at the Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday, Manchester rock icon Johnny Marr has dropped a new single called ‘The Bright Parade’. This follows on from his eco-disco ‘Armatopia’ and an array of entertaining festival appearances this summer.
Following on from the cosmic explorations in Marr’s last LP Call the Comet, ‘The Bright Parade’ explores a different world of stars – that of the celebrity. “I think this track is more of a story… more of a psychedelic musical track,” Marr said. “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.”
It is clear that Johnny Marr finds the world of the celebrity to be a worrying one. This is beautifully coated with the track’s racing guitar riffs, beautiful solos and instrumental segments of an other-worldly detachment. Even though it is more driven by its guitar and bass, the electronic spirit of Call the Comet and ‘Armatopia’ lives on. I’m really loving cosmic Marr, and for now, it will likely be sticking around for a bit longer.
‘The Bright Parade’
Johnny Marr is due to play two sold-out gigs at the Manchester Albert Hall on September 4th and 5th. With 2019 highlights including an awesome set at the Other Stage at Glastonbury and jamming to ‘This Charming Man’ with The Killers on their headline set, Johnny Marr is showing no end to his spirit and to his rocking demeanor. And thank goodness for that. We’re looking forward to seeing what else this year holds for the Manchester legend!
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From Sophia with Love x