Morrissey has now been solo for the best part of four decades. But, as his work has constantly shown, he is at his best with a strong creative partner, be it Johnny Marr in the Smiths, Vini Reilly on, or Mick Ronson on Your Arsenal. Make-Up Is a Lie, much like the singer's last decade of solo albums, affords Morrissey no such critical counterweight.
"BMG have appointed a new Executive who does not want another Morrissey album," he wrote in a statement at the time. "The new BMG Executive has announced new plans for 'diversity' within BMG's artist roster, and all projected BMG Morrissey releases/reissues have been scrapped. This news is perfectly in keeping with the relentless galvanic horror of 2020."
There is a well-trodden line about assessing the trustworthiness of online bargains: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. It comes to mind when looking at the extremely unusual way in which Morrissey is apparently seeking to offload his business interests in the Smiths. This is not like the forensic and formal processes behind huge catalogue sales in recent years such as Sting, Bob Dylan, Queen, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd or Paul Simon.