Morrissey's new album is out this week. It proves he is still the man we need, says Mark Smith

There I am: 15 years old, thinking: is it me? and the music that’s playing is Morrissey. Now here I am: 55 years old, thinking: is it me? and the music that’s playing is Morrissey. Move on! you say, he is not what we was and neither are you. But I’ve listened to the new album and bring you news: I still need him. We still need him. Let me tell you what it’s like.

But before the guitars start and Steven Patrick sings for us, a bit of context. Morrissey’s last album was I Am Not a Dog on a Chain in 2020, after which he struggled to find a record label. There were two albums’ worth of material recorded but no sign of it being released and the suspicion was that, in our weird, angry age, his opinions made him unacceptable and unsignable. Some seemed to think the man who wrote Margaret on a Guillotine was Right-Wing (gasp) but if you think that, you haven’t been paying attention at the back and even if he is, who cares. Let him sing.

Fortunately, after the statues were thrown in the water and the words far-right and fascist were thrown at people you didn’t agree with, common sense started to prevail, as it always does, and Morrissey signed with Sire records, part of Warner, and we have the new album Make-Up is a Lie. You may have heard the singles from the album already, Notre-Dame and the title track, but do not judge the album by those whatever you do. For some........

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