Mr. Marmite is back!

There aren't many artists who can divide critics and public alike as much as Steven Patrick Morrissey. Shane Warne remarked that Monty Panasaar hadn't played in 35 tests he'd played 1 test 35 times, there are people out there who believe that the same sort of conclusion could be drawn from listening to half a dozen of Mozza's albums, I think that would be missing the point by some distance.

The test of any album for me is a) how many times do I have to reach for the skip button and b) how many times can you listen to it before getting bored. In the case of Years of Refusal the answers are (a) none and (b) dozens. I've held back from writing a review because I've been listening to this album almost constantly for the past two and a bit weeks and it's as good as anything he's done bar Your Arsenal, which for me remains the benchmark by which all his output will be judged.

Back in the days of The Smiths one of the key points of their existence was the counterpoint between Morrissey's lyrics and the sound of Johnny Marr's jangly Rickenbacker guitar. As a solo artist Mozza has had the services of Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer to call on and whilst Boorer is no Marr he's certainly a very good musician who has worked with the former Smiths frontman for a number of years. There are twelve tracks on the new album, Morrissey writes all the lyrics and the music is split between Boz Boorer (4 tracks), Alan Whyte (5 tracks) and Jesse Tobias (3 tracks).

The album kicks off with Something is squeezing my skull, a song about the effects of medication on a troubled soul, a portrait of a middle aged man as artist, or Morrissey confessing to the problems of expectation among his loyal band of followers? I'm not sure but this is a great start to the album, the band members Boorer, Matt Walker (drums), Jesse Tobia (guitar) and Solomon Walker (bass) driving the song forward as if their lives depend on it.

The best example of music coupled with a lyric which is the complete opposite in emotion is the lead single from the album I'm throwing my arms around Paris where Boorers guitar playing drives forward a song about Mozza being unable to find love other than in the stone and steel architecture of the French capital.

Talking of lyrics this is why we buy the great man's records/CD's, here they are as obtuse, comforting, personal, humorous, puzzling as ever. For example on the track That's how people grow up he comes up with the following:

I was driving my car

I crashed and broke my spine

so, yes, there are things worse in life than never being

someones sweetie.

When Nathalie heard this whilst we were driving she turned to me and said,"did he really break his spine or is that just for the song?"

All you need is me reminds me of a line from Hitchhiker to the Galaxy (which shows what a strange world I live in) about the star system. To my ears this is a direct attack on a certain music publication which has 'had it in' for Morrissey since his (in)famous run-in over the lyrics to National Front Disco some sixteen years ago, but of course it could just be a song about a jilted lover.

Morrissey has a huge following in L.A and Southern California among the Hispanic population, he's also big in Mexico. There's a musical nod to this in the song When last I spoke to Carol which uses flamenco style guitar, Mariachi horns (courtesy of Mark Isham) and the sort of whooping noises you associate with a Mexican fiesta.

There's always one song on a Morrissey album which lyrically isn't ambiguous and requires no explanation and on Years of Refusal that track is One day goodbye will be farewell. Bad luck has certainly dogged Mozza's solo career, the loss of various band members and record producers over the years, even this album was delayed by the death producer Jerry Finn. The lyrics here are simple, make the most of the time you have, enjoy the company of those you hold close to your heart, because we are all on this planet for a short time.

Having told us on the previous track that we are all mortal and that time grips us in its spell, It's not your birthday present finds Morrissey lyrically back to his most cutting and yet again his most tender. There are time in his career when, and I'm not sure whether or not he would appreciate this comment, Morrissey can deliver a lyric that is both wonderful tender and yet at the same time cutting, the song ends with the following:

It's not your birthday anymore
did you really think we meant
all of those syrupy, sentimental
things we said yesterday?

You were good in your time is a song for a dead friend, whether the song was written for somebody who is dead physically, spiritually or a paean to an artist who has passed their sell-by-date I'm not sure. There's no good v bad, give with one hand take away with the other in the lyrics here, it's a love song pure and simple.

Sorry doesn't help is the penultimate track and it brings to mind Seasick Yet Still Docked from Your Arsenal. It's surprising when you review his lyrics how many are about love, either real, imagined, unrequited or physically consumed. This is about the impact of lies on a relationship and how lying about lies and their causes only adds to deceit and betrayal. As with all of Morrissey's best work, both as a member of The Smiths and as a solo artist the music could be telling us a different story completely.

The album closes with I'm OK by myself and once again lyrically it reveals a person who isn't confident about himself in love and is happier on his own. Giving all we know about Morrissey and his lifestyle in L.A I'd say this is as close as we ever going to get in terms of laying on the psychiatrists couch.

Could this be an arm around my waist?
well, surely the hand contains a knife

now this might surprise you, but,
I find I'm Ok by myself


NME once described Morrissey as "one of the most influential artists ever" and The Independent added to the genuflecting by saying that "most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status that he has reached in his lifetime." This album is almost as good as it gets for Morrissey fans, twelve tracks, no filler and a band at the top of its game.