Morrissey has returned with the title track from his forthcoming solo album Make-Up Is A Lie.
The former Smiths frontman is set to return with his first studio album in more than five years after signing a new deal with Sire Records, a Warner Records imprint that once housed his old band. The record is scheduled for release on March 6.
The Suedehead singer is encouraging his fans to listen to the song – which is produced by Joe Chiccarelli and co-written by keyboardist Camila Grey – in the dark.
In a new entry on Morrissey Central, the 66-year-old musician reflected on the drawn-out journey to its release: “The wait has sometimes felt like a tragedy, but the release today of Make-up Is A Lie is like a reunion of lovers.
“And after several plays it seems to have existed always. We can now place our faith in what is visible. 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.”
The label hailed its client “as one of the most acclaimed and potent voices of the last four decades.”
Fans can also expect Morrissey’s spin on Roxy Music’s 1973 gem Amazona.
It was believed he would release his much-delayed album, Bonfire of Teenagers, on the new label, but the tracklisting was for a completely new record.
The list of 12 song titles did not include Rebels Without Applause, the one single released from Bonfire Of Teenagers in 2022.
The new list includes The Monsters Of Pig Alley, Headache, Make-Up Is A Lie, The Night Pop Dropped, You’re Right It’s Time, Kerching Kerching, Zoom Zoom The Little Boy, Lester Bangs, Boulevard, Many Icebergs Ago, Amazona and Notre-Dame.
Morrissey’s career has faced difficulties in recent years.
Record label BMG cut ties with him in November 2020 – a decision the singer said was linked to the company’s “new plans for diversity”.
He completed Bonfire of Teenagers in 2021, with its title track referencing the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
Although initially due for release under Capitol Records in February 2023, Morrissey said at the end of 2022 he had “voluntarily” parted ways with both the label and his management, and claimed the record was being withheld.
In 2024, he revealed he had completed a second new album that he has been unable to release.
He told Medium: “The second one was re-recorded in France in late 2023, and given a new title. We scrapped half of the tracks and we recorded six new ones, and so it is not the album from the beginning of 2023.”
Make-Up Is A Lie tracklisting:
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
