MORRISSEY INKS NEW DEAL & NEW ALBUM DUE OUT LATER THIS YEAR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MORRISSEY SIGNS WORLDWIDE RECORDING AGREEMENT WITH HARVEST RECORDS
GLOBALLY-ACCLAIMED AND HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL RECORDING & PERFORMING ARTIST
TO RECORD FIRST NEW ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS FOR RELEASE LATER IN 2014
(TORONTO – 16 January, 2014) – Universal Music Canada (UMC), the country’s leading music company is pleased to announce that yesterday, Harvest Records signed globally-renowned artist Morrissey to a worldwide recording agreement which will see the legendary front man rejoining UMC’s roster of international icons. Morrissey’s first album under the deal will be released in the second half of this year. Morrissey stated that he is “thrilled” with the agreement, and will commence recording of his new album –the artist’s first since 2009’s Years Of Refusal – later this month in France with producer Joe Chiccarelli. Joining Morrissey in France will be his longtime recording and touring band, including Boz Boorer (guitar), Jesse Tobias (guitar), Solomon Walker (bass), Matthew Walker (drums) and Gustavo Manzur (keyboards). Tour dates for 2014 will be announced soon. Morrissey’s solo career began in 1988, after the dissolution of The Smiths, with the release of Viva Hate. His influence on music and culture has continued to grow over the past 25 years through the release of nine globally acclaimed studio albums and an array of singles, rarities collections and live recordings. He is renowned as one of the world’s most beloved and iconic performing artists, recently exemplified in last year’s concert film, Morrissey 25: Live, recorded in March 2013 at a rare intimate show at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. Music magazine NME considers Morrissey to be "one of the most influential artists ever," while The Independent famously wrote that "most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status he has reached in his lifetime." He is held in equal esteem in the U.S., with Pitchfork, for example, regarding him as "one of the most singular figures in Western popular culture.” Morrissey's recent Autobiography became one of the fastest-selling memoirs in the UK upon its release in October and set first-week sales records when it entered the UK charts at #1 (a slot it held for five weeks). Its release also marked the first time a living author had been published by Penguin Classics in the imprint’s nearly-70-year history. Autobiography has been widely acclaimed, with The Telegraph calling it “the best written musical autobiography since Bob Dylan’s Chronicles” in its 5-star review.- 30 -