THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Informed by a powerful, anthemic and direct approach, the songs on Johnny Marr’s Fever Dreams Pt 1 EP arrive with an emotional potency. Fusing the language of soul music, his roots as a “Mancunian glam rocker” and a fantastically expansive sound, the new EP reflects Johnny’s multifaceted past while taking his music somewhere startlingly new.
“There’s a set of influences and a very broad sound that I’ve been developing — really since getting out of The Smiths until now — and I hear it in this record,” Marr said. “There are so many strands of music in it. We didn’t do that consciously, but I think I’ve got a vocabulary of sound. And I feel very satisfied that I’ve been able to harness it.”
The EP is the first stage in what will eventually be the double solo album Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4, due for release on Feb. 25. “Spirit, Power And Soul is a kind of mission statement,” Marr declared of the EP’s leadoff track and first single. “I had an idea about an electro sound with gospel feeling, in my own word: An electro soul anthem.”
Among the most influential and respected guitarists of his generation Marr has been integral to a string of renowned bands dating back to The Smiths, in which he was co-songwriter with Morrissey between 1983–87. Marr’s jangly Rickenbacker guitar-playing has influenced countless guitarists that followed, particularly in the Britpop era. Marr has also been a member of Electronic, The The and Modest Mouse. In 2008, he joined The Cribs after touring with them on 2008’s NME Awards Tour, a group in which he would remain until 2011. In 2013 he released his debut solo album titled The Messenger. It was followed by 2014’s Playland and 2018’s Call The Comet.”
