When he's not busy looking after his public feud with Morrissey, the Smiths co-founder Johnny Marr is actually once again writing songs with Modest Mouse — their first collaboration since 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
Marr and bandleader Isaac Brock broke the news in a new interview with SPIN celebrating the record's 15th anniversary.
"We've already started working on some stuff together," Brock told the publication. "We just finished a song, 'Rivers of Rivers' — actually, I think it's just 'Rivers of…' — but it's in a pen-pal sort of way," he explained, adding: "International travel isn't what it once was at the moment," presumably in reference to the ongoing global pandemic.
"I played on that new Modest Mouse song, and there are a couple of other things knocking around that Isaac's writing," Marr chimed in. "As Isaac said, air travel isn't quite what it was. But hopefully when the world tilts back on its axis, I'll be jumping on a plane, I think."
Back in the simpler time of 2007, Modest Mouse — with Marr in tow — teased the possibility of a "quick" follow-up album consisting of leftovers from We Were Dead and the band's previous (unMarred) release, 2004's Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Though it never came into fruition (and the songs will seemingly be new), it seems like that reunion is happening better late than never.
It's not exactly unprecedented, either: Brock and Marr have previously spoken about the prospect of working together again. In 2021, Marr responded to Brock's wager that "the option's available" for him to rejoin the band, calling his tenure with the US outfit "the best time of his life" and hailing Brock as "the greatest living lyricist" he's "ever worked with." Take that Moz!
Dudes are simply gonna rock — together.
Modest Mouse will be making some Canadian stops on their North American tour this June and August in support of their most recent record, last year's The Golden Casket. Marr recently released his four-part double-album Fever Dreams.
Marr and bandleader Isaac Brock broke the news in a new interview with SPIN celebrating the record's 15th anniversary.
"We've already started working on some stuff together," Brock told the publication. "We just finished a song, 'Rivers of Rivers' — actually, I think it's just 'Rivers of…' — but it's in a pen-pal sort of way," he explained, adding: "International travel isn't what it once was at the moment," presumably in reference to the ongoing global pandemic.
"I played on that new Modest Mouse song, and there are a couple of other things knocking around that Isaac's writing," Marr chimed in. "As Isaac said, air travel isn't quite what it was. But hopefully when the world tilts back on its axis, I'll be jumping on a plane, I think."
Back in the simpler time of 2007, Modest Mouse — with Marr in tow — teased the possibility of a "quick" follow-up album consisting of leftovers from We Were Dead and the band's previous (unMarred) release, 2004's Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Though it never came into fruition (and the songs will seemingly be new), it seems like that reunion is happening better late than never.
It's not exactly unprecedented, either: Brock and Marr have previously spoken about the prospect of working together again. In 2021, Marr responded to Brock's wager that "the option's available" for him to rejoin the band, calling his tenure with the US outfit "the best time of his life" and hailing Brock as "the greatest living lyricist" he's "ever worked with." Take that Moz!
Dudes are simply gonna rock — together.
Modest Mouse will be making some Canadian stops on their North American tour this June and August in support of their most recent record, last year's The Golden Casket. Marr recently released his four-part double-album Fever Dreams.
