Johnny Marr has been releasing solo records for 10 years now, which seems like a good time to release a Best Of compilation, and Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr will be out November 3 via BMG.
The album ignores the 2003 album he made as Johnny Marr & The Healers and picks up with 2013’s The Messenger, and also includes tracks from 2014’s Playland, 2018’s Call The Comet, his 2022 double album Fever Dreams (Pts 1-4), as well as non-album singles “Armatopia” and “The Priest” (ft Maxine Peake). There are also two new songs: a cover of Depeche Mode‘s “I Feel You,” and an original, “Somewhere,” which he’s shared today.
“I’ve played a lot of arenas over the years, and in terms of songwriting, there’s nowhere to hide,” Marr says of the song, which features that jangly sound he had during his time in The Smiths and The The. “For a song to work, it has to be a banger. I know it’s almost uncool to think in those terms, but I grew up in a house where my parents listened to Motown, where you couldn’t get a song released if it wasn’t full of hooks.” You can watch the “Somewhere” video below.
There’s also a two-CD deluxe edition of Spirit Power featuring demos, remixes and more. Check out the tracklist and artwork below.
Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr – Deluxe 2CD tracklist
Disc 1:
Armatopia
New Town Velocity
Easy Money
Spirit Power & Soul
Hi Hello
Somewhere
The Messenger
I Feel You
The Answer
Dynamo
Spiral Cities
Night and Day
Sensory Street
Walk Into The Sea
Candidate
Tenement Time
Disc 2:
Hi Hello (Demo)
Somewhere (Demo)
The Answer (Crazy F Version)
The Messenger (Demo)
Speak out Reach Out (Crazy F Version)