Morrissey has announced ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ – his first new album in six years. Check out the stirring title track below, along with a message to fans from the artist.
- READ MORE: The Smiths: every song ranked in order of greatness
The news was shared today (Friday January 9), and comes on the heels of the soloist and former Smiths frontman revealing last month that he had signed with Sire Records and was gearing up to drop a new LP.
On Christmas Day, he went on to post what seemed to be a tracklisting for a new record on social media, then dropped numerous follow-up hints throughout the week – including a preview of a new song.
Now, after much speculation, he has announced that he will be releasing a new album called ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’. It will mark his 14th solo album and his first new album in six years. It drops on March 5 via Sire/Warner Records. As well as announcing the full-length project, Morrissey has also unveiled the title track, which sees him combine thoughtful lyrics with swirling, melancholic instrumentals.
“Ten years passed in boredom/ I made my way to Paris/ to stand before her gravestone,” he sings in his distinctive vocal style, backed by intriguing bass riffs and echoing drums. “I read the words in granite/ One, two, three, four, five/ Make-Up is a lie.”
The song comes as a stirring introduction to the album as a whole, which is said to contain provocative lyrics, unpredictable instrumentation, and a title that a press release describes as “an explicit call for unvarnished truth and expression”.
It also sees Morrissey join forces again with Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes, The White Stripes, Weezer, My Morning Jacket), and return to Studio La Fabrique in Southern France. Joining him on the instrumentation are Jesse Tobias, Camila Grey, Carmen Vandenberg, Juan Galeano, Alain Whyte, Gustavo Manzur and Brendan Buckley.
“The wait has sometimes felt like a tragedy, but the release today of ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ is like a reunion of lovers,” Morrissey told fans. “And after several plays it seems to have existed always. We can now place our faith in what is visible.”
He continued: “Please sit in your favourite chair in your dark cabin with the lights out – or, get off your head and enjoy some impulsive self-humiliation – as I often do. I hope you consider ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ to be worth the attention that you give it. Many of us, here, and in France, Turkey, Poland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, America, England … we have waited because our belief is unchallengeable: let the squawkers squawk. What survives beyond their grasp is love.
“I insist on being myself in spite of much discouragement, and this new music is a valid portrait of much more to come in 2026. Born, then born, and born again. I am your lover-to-be.”
Visit here to pre-order the album, and check out the full tracklist below – which includes a cover of Roxy Music’s 1973 deep cut ‘Amazona’.
Morrissey’s ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ tracklist is:
1. ‘You’re Right, It’s Time’
2. ‘Make-up is a Lie’
3. ‘Notre-Dame’
4. ‘Amazona’ (Roxy Music cover)
5. ‘Headache’
6. ‘Boulevard’
7. ‘Zoom Zoom the Little Boy’
8. ‘The Night Pop Dropped’
9. ‘Kerching Kerching’
10. ‘Lester Bangs’
11. ‘Many Icebergs Ago’
12. ‘The Monsters of Pig Alley’
The new single was first hinted at by Morrissey on Instagram earlier this month, when he shared a post saying “new music” alongside a snippet of the song. He also uploaded a similar post that said “January 9” – indicating that more details about the new release would arrive today.
At first, some fans thought that the record would be his long-delayed album ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’, but these rumours were dismissed when he shared the aforementioned post about the tracklist.
‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ comes as the singer and songwriter revealed to Medium last year that he had completed another album outside of ‘Bonfire…’ but had been unable to release it.
After announcing in 2022 that he was going to share the record, Morrissey later told fans that he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records”.
Controversy around the album continued the following year, when Morrissey alleged on his website that he was “quickly coming around to” the belief that [Capitol Records] only signed ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ “in order to sabotage it”. He doubled down on this stance later too, alleging that the CEO of Capitol was trying to derail his career, and then claiming that he was being “gagged” over its release.
Miley Cyrus was set to feature on the long-delayed album, providing vocals to a song called ‘I Am Veronica’. She recorded the song with Morrissey in 2020, but later asked to have her backing vocals removed. It appears that the decision was made in relation to his political stance, and his support for the controversial far-right party For Britain.
Morrissey has insisted that he is not far right, and former bandmate and guitarist Johnny Marr previously spoke out about the topic too, saying that he thinks it has “cast a shadow over The Smiths”.
View this post on Instagram
Morrissey later shared that he had bought back the rights to ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’, but it remains unclear if it will be released anytime soon.
The former Smiths star will be continuing a huge tour later this month. Dates kicked off in North America last week and resume on January 10. After those shows, he will head over to Europe the following month.
European shows begin in Denmark on February 13, and the tour also includes a headline date at The O2, which is his only scheduled UK gig of the year. Find any remaining tickets to the UK show here, and to international shows here.
The post Morrissey shares title track and announces first album in six years ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ appeared first on NME.