Call the Comet is the upcoming solo album from Johnny Marr, due out in just a little over a month through New Voodoo. The 12-track effort comes after 2014’s acclaimed Playland and is about an alternative society “set in the not-too-distant future.” Although it’s not exactly a concept record, “it’s got a unifying theme going through it about the Earth welcoming a different intelligence from the cosmos to save us from our own plight,” he previously explained.
(Read: Ranking: Every Song by The Smiths from Worst to Best)
April brought the LP’s lead single, “The Tracers”. Today, a second preview has been broken off by Marr. It’s called “Hi Hello” and echoes The Smiths’ Queen is Dead era. Specifically, as fans have pointed out, it shares similarities with “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”. (Another listener suggested, “…now imagine this track with Morrissey vocals over it,” but I personally think it’s best we leave Moz out of it.)
In a press statement, Marr called the latest single “one of the songs that just fell into my hands and mind as I was playing,” adding, “The tune evoked something natural so I just followed it and it felt like I had to sing something personal, something we might all feel about someone sometime.”
Check it out below via its music video, which was co-directed by Marr alongside Mat Bancroft. It’s a beautiful clip that captures Marr performing from inside a gazebo.
Call the Comet arrives June 15th. In support, Marr has a series of “exclusive album launch shows” lined up over the next few weeks. The trek officially kicks off tomorrow night in Dublin; here’s the whole itinerary.
