Johnny Marr has opened up about working with Billie Eilish, calling her “a modern-day version” of The Cure.
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The singer, songwriter, guitarist, and former Smiths member took part in a new interview for NME‘s ‘In Conversation’ series, where he spoke about working on ‘No Time To Die’ with Eilish and her brother/collaborator Finneas.
The discussion came as Marr released his first solo compilation album today (November 3), entitled ‘Spirit Power’. The song was written for the 2021 James Bond film of the same name.
When asked by NME about his experiences of collaborating with Eilish, Marr said: “She and her family are just so musical. She can pick up a uke and just write a song like that. It was a pleasure being around Billie and Finneas. It was a very short project, but quite insightful for me.”
Marr went on to agree that Eilish’s music contained a “bittersweet” quality, which he said was a trait possessed by “the best writers and novelists”.
“The Smiths were exactly like that – musically, for my part,” he said. “There’s plenty of New Order and Joy Division music that has got that human beauty in it. I heard ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed this morning. That’s an evergreen staple and you’d have to be made of stone to not like that song, but is it a happy song? I’m not really sure.
“Billie’s got that in abundance. That’s what attracts human beings to other human beings who are expressing it. It’s tricky being a human being sometimes – no matter how long you spend at the gym.”
He went on to compare Billie Eilish to The Cure, saying: “So much of The Cure stuff that appears to be dark is very beautiful. ‘Disintegration’ is an amazing record. But I saw them as a kid when ‘Seventeen Seconds’ [1980] came out. I just thought it was beautiful and modern.”
Marr continued: “It’s funny, Billie is definitely coming from a similar sensibility but I think it has a similar vibe to it, in a way. A modern version. I can imagine being really into her records when I was 16 or 17.”
‘Spirit Power’ takes material personally curated from four of Marr’s albums: ‘The Messenger‘ (2013), ‘Playland‘ (2014), ‘Call The Comet‘ (2018) and 2022 double album ‘Fever Dreams Pts 1-4‘. The record also includes two brand new tracks produced by Marr along with co-producer James Doviak – ‘The Answer’ and ‘Somewhere’.
Along with his compilation album, Marr also announced an accompanying tour which he will embark on in 2024. You can purchase your tickets here.
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