Morrissey believes Capitol Records is ‘sabotaging’ his album release
The road to Morrissey’s latest album has been a rocky one. In early December, the former Smiths frontman announced that he had willingly left Capitol Records. A statement read: “Morrissey has voluntarily parted company with Maverick/Quest management. Morrissey has also voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records Los Angeles”.
While the album has been in production for some time, Morrissey has also run into trouble with some of the album’s guest stars. Back in December, Miley Cyrus washed her hands of a potential collaboration with Morrissey, as he confirmed: “Miley Cyrus now wants to be taken off the song ‘I Am Veronica’ for which she volunteered backing vocals almost two years ago.” After a bit of dust has settled, though, Morrissey believes that the mounting issues have been an intentional play.
Taking to his website, a representative for Morrissey commented: “Morrissey is ‘too diverse’ for Universal Music Group. Capitol Records (Los Angeles) will not, after all, release Morrissey’s 2021 album ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’. At the same time, Capitol Records (Los Angeles) are holding on to the album”.
The statement continued: “Although Morrissey officially signed to Capitol Records Los Angeles, there has been no mention of Morrissey on Capitol’s website or on their Artists roster. Morrissey has said that although he does not believe that Capitol Records in Los Angeles signed ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ in order to sabotage it, he is quickly coming around to that belief.”
This current juncture isn’t the first time Morrissey has found himself without a label. In 2020, BMG dropped the Mancunian from their client list, which he claimed was because of “new plans for ‘diversity’ within BMG’s artist roster”.
These accusations also come after Morrissey made his comments known on the idea of cancel culture when he stated: “Cancel Vultures are unknowable blanks, and they only attack those of whom they are most jealous – because others don’t count. They will not forgive you for being alive, but they will not square up to you face-to-face because they would be forced to look into your eyes … where the wordless truth resides. Worst of all, Cancel Vultures cannot ever apologize for being wrong.”
Despite Morrissey’s ongoing fights with his label and beyond, a set date for the tentative album Bonfire of Teenagers has not been announced.
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