MORRISSEY – MAKE-UP IS A LIE
As someone who has purchased tickets to a Morrissey show that would inevitably get cancelled, I always approach news about the artist with hesitant optimism. So, I was hand-wringing about the new album, Make-up Is a Lie (Morrissey‘s fourteenth solo offering). Would it actually be released (see the problematic split from his label in 2014 which pulled the release from the shelves and his trouble finding a label throughout the 2010s)? Would it be any good?
Recorded in France with longtime producer, Joe Chiccarelli, is best when Morrissey leans into his drama. The title track “Make-up is a Lie,” is the best of the bunch with that sardonic humor and lamentable honesty touched with flamenco guitar flourishes. When he aims for a more upbeat and glammy sound with his Roxy Music cover, “Amazona,” is just not how I like my Morrissey – please keep him mopey. But overall, it’s a nice collection of tunes that keep those hesitantly optimist fans buying tickets to show that might never happen.
Stream • Sire • Connect: @morrissey
R.E.M. – R.E.M. AT THE BBC
This one is a monster — eight discs, decades of performances, and the sound of a band constantly evolving in public. R.E.M. at the BBC pulls from sessions and broadcasts between 1984 and 2008, meaning you get everything from wide‑eyed early‑career urgency to the confident sweep of their ’90s prime.
What’s wild is how consistent they are across eras. Whether it’s the John Peel sessions, the Glastonbury set, or those gorgeous acoustic moments from the later years, R.E.M. always sounds locked‑in and present.
TALKING HEADS – TENTATIVE DECISIONS: DEMOS & LIVE
Talking Heads always come across as fully formed, like they popped out of the art-punk womb tightly clenching their instruments in oversized suits. Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live take away the artifice and take you back to those early trials: nervy demos from the mid‑’70s, the club recordings before they grew into themselves, the raw takes of songs that would later become foundational. Hearing “Psycho Killer” and “Warning Sign” in such stripped‑down form makes you appreciate where they landed even more.
The full listen shows the scrappy art school kids building chemistry and a sound that is totally new. It’s messy, twitchy, hyper‑focused, and full of that early‑band magic you can’t manufacture.
Stream • Rhino • Connect: @talkingheads
VARIOUS ARTISTS – HELP(2)
Thirty years ago War Child UK put out a benefit compilation album to raise money for children and their families in war-torn Bosnia. Stars like Oasis, Blur, and Radiohead help propel the album to the number 1 spot on the charts and raised nearly 2 million dollars. With the expansion of wars (Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan) and child suffrage, the non-profit once again reached out to top talent (Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Wet Leg, Damon Albarn, Pulp etc) for Help(2).
The songs were recorded over one week at Abbey Road, and that speed created a loose, creative, and explorative sound. It’s starts swoony and dramatic with “Opening Night,” from Arctic Monkeys and builds to a frantic and energized Pulp with “Begging for Change.” It doesn’t feel rushed or pandering, there’s real feeling and purpose that will hopefully meet it’s audience to match the help of the first release.
Stream • War Child • Connect: @warchilduk
