Playland

"Lead single 'Easy Money' is a twitchy, maddeningly catchy ode to the root of all evil (and some pretty great rock'n'roll songs). Another standout, the shimmering 'Dynamo', is a love song to Manchester's CIS tower ("A vision in glass"), suggesting that Marr's legendary good taste extends even to skyscrapers. In basic terms, if 'The Messenger' was everything anyone could want a Johnny Marr solo record to be, 'Playland' is pretty much all anyone could hope for as a follow-up. 'The Trap', with its airy vocal and high-fret Peter Hook undertow, almost sounds like a lost Electronic (Marr's '90s supergroup project with Bernard Sumner) single. Elsewhere, the riff of 'This Tension' is so brazenly meta-Marr it can't help but bring a smile to your face, while 'Boys Get Straight' is The Smiths with jagged, recalibrated post-punk edges (the opening riff comes cigarette-paper close to being 'What Difference Does It Make') and its anti-consumerist polemic is delivered with aplomb".

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"A lack of effort isn't the main problem with Playland; if anything, there's been too much effort put into it. It's been fussed over so much that any spark that may have spurred it has been smothered. As Marr continues to staple pages to his résumé-and the prospect of a Smiths reunion becomes even more remote-the disconnect between the iconic architect of '80s indie and the journeyman who'd rather follow than lead grows. In an interview with the NME, Marr cited "boredom" as a big inspiration on Playland, and all it takes is a listen to prove it".

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