Mondo Bizarre Magazine Records, Reviews

Johnny Marr – The Age of Everything

by Raquel Pinheiro

The Age of Everything, Johnny Marr’s fifth solo studio album came out a week ago.

It’s the first album in a very long time I felt like writing about. Even more surprising, because it’s the first of Johnny’s solo albums I fully click and resonate with.

I danced to it from beginning to end. Sang along to it. Picked up the guitar and strummed something out of pure joy. Played air drums again.

The Age of Everything made me to want to write pop, catchy songs and have a band again.

I like everything on the album. The  music, the voice, the production, the mix, the lyrics, the backing vocals – they are absolutely stunning – the cover, the fact that if not all, many or most of the guitars Johnny plays were gone on his Christieā€™s auction held September 17.

I like that as Johnny put it “Sharp, fast and dynamic, filled with ideas and possibilities.” Particularly the full of possibilities part.

The songs on The Age Of Everything were written in London – you can feel the city bursting through them – developed on the road on tour on the East Coast of North America – there’s a certain East Coast flavour too – and recorded in Manchester at Crazy Face Factory – Johnny’s custom build studio and creative space.

The Age Of Everything is a fresh, danceable, guitar driven with great drums and bass, elegant,  pop album with a big sound. Not exactly a wall of sound, more of an expansive fell-good vibe of sound.

There are very audible guitar nudges and lines to Johnny’s trademark guitar playing in The Smiths. Particularly in It’s Time, Ophelia, In And Out of Love,  But they are layered with other guitars, and instruments transforming them into their own thing.

My favourite song from the album is the final one, All in a Life.

I deliberately wanted my words about The Age of Everything to be published after the official release. I wanted to let it wrap me, feel it, absorb it. Give it time. The Age of Everything is not an album for a day, or week, or a month. I suspect it’s an album I will be returning to often.

Which fits the idea behind the album, that in the age of everything is immediately available. Which can be overwhelming, and asking for an immediate response. There’s endless benefits of technology, but there’s also value in taking our time.

The Age of Everything
Tracklist:
1. Spin
2. Beyond the Rain
3. It’s Time
4. How Come
5. Ophelia
6. That Feeling
7. In and Out of Love
8. Just Once More
9. Fire with Fire
10. All in a Life

Personnel:
Johnny Marr: vocals, guitars, songwriting, production
James Doviak,: guitar, keyboards, co-writing, production
Iwan Gronow: bass
Jack Mitchell: drums
Meredith Sheldon: backing vocals
Nile Marr: backing vocals
Claudius Mittendorfer: mix
Frank Arkwright: mastering

Recorded at Crazy Face Factory, Manchester; and Mastered at Abbey Road Studios, London.

The Age of Everything is released by
New Voodoo Limited/BMG

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

Homour, Maus HƔbitos, Porto, 12.03.2026.

Ā© Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Paulo Carmona

words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro)
photos: Paulo Carmona

For those who, like myself, enjoy live music, I have this question: Is there anything more pleasurable than going to see a concert by a band you know little or almost nothing about and being surprised by a bomb of energy, good vibes, interaction, commitment, and high-quality musical competence? I guess not!

The Scots Humour are what you call: A hell of a band!

They come on stage with the nonchalance of a bunch of kids and leave it with the mojo of first-rate rockers who have accomplished their mission with distinction.

The room was far from full, perhaps half capacity. Fortunate were those who left their homes on a Thursday night and headed to Maus HƔbitos in Porto to welcome them.

Humourā€™s post-punk is contagious and electrifying. Powerful guitars, a well-marked and sustained bass, cohesive and distinctive drums, and a delirious voice. And up to this point, everything is within what one might expect from a band operating in this field.

The difference lies in the composition, the dynamics, the truth of the lyrics and the performance. Everything very well achieved and finely honed.

The agony of the riffs in the verses gives way to warm, soothing melodies in the choruses, in a kind of emotional roller coaster. This can be heard in almost every song, from Neighbours, with which they opened, through Memorial and Dirty Bread, to Plagiarist, with which they closed the concert.

The name of this band could not be more fitting. The bandā€™s kindness and friendliness win over the audience.

In conversation with the bandā€™s good-humoured frontman – Andreas Christodoulidis – I asked him what drives them in this world of songs. His answer was unequivocal: ā€œWe want to give the audience good songs, full of energy, good lyrics, and with that get some good feelings going. Thatā€™s what weā€™re here for.ā€ If that was their intention, they achieved it even better than they imagined, because that was exactly what I witnessed.

Weā€™ll be hearing a lot about them! šŸŽ¶

Mondo Bizarre Magazine Concert Reviews, Concerts

The Youth Play, Mouco, Porto, 30.01. 2026.

Ā© Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Telma Mota

words: Paulo Carmona (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro)photos: Telma Mota

So Young, So Young ā€¦ The Youth Play take to the stage to enjoy themselves, and that sense of enjoyment comes through in every song.

They walked on stage with an introverted, introspective air, but the mood shifted quickly.

The frenetic cadence of their alternative rock ā€™nā€™ roll -characteristic of post-punk bands operating within this sonic register – takes effect almost immediately. This British band further embellishes its sound with flashes of abrasive shoegaze.

Diego Bracho, on vocals and guitar, smiling and self-assured, delivers chords in a tightly sequenced rhythm, supported by vocal lines rich in upper-mid tones and firmly grounded low registers. He combines ethereal, looping vocals with layers of distorted guitar.

He communicates effortlessly with the audience and remains constantly in motion. He did not hesitate to leave the stage and merge with the crowd at Mouco. The desired effect was achieved, as bodies responded in kind.

Harrison Ballard, on lead guitar, makes it scream in sharp, piercing melodies, while Alex Hanrahan on bass blends syncopated rhythms with solid, dependable structures whenever weight is required. Finley Bruce is the bandā€™s driving force. With a dense, low-end drum sound, he imposes exactly what is needed for The Youth Playā€™s sound to be what it wants to be.

They opened with Castle, May Be This Was All For Us and Wild Flowers, moved through On Fire and After a Moment, and closed with Cowboy, A Fair Life, Sunday and If We Just Ever Were.
A blend of older material alongside newer songs from Someday, Forever, their 2025 album.

After the concert, the band stayed on to spend time more closely with enthusiastic fans in an adjacent space. A genuinely generous gesture from the members of The Youth Play. It is rare to see, but it should happen far more often.

Ā© Mondo Bizarre Magazine/Telma Mota