Johnny Marr On World Cafe

Johnny Marr has a lot of accolades. From co-founding The Smiths to playing alongside folks like The Pretenders and Talking Heads, from invigorating Modest Mouse in the aughts to a successful solo career, Marr has earned himself a legion of devoted fans. But the thing that always sticks with me is how comfortable he is. Marr's effortlessly at ease; fun to talk to, always good for a joke and ridiculously smart.

On his latest album, Call the Comet, Marr, who is keen on science fiction, envisions a different type of end of days. He's content to imagine a new utopia and he brings us along for the ride.

In this session, Marr talks about why he wanted to make a proper rock and roll record and shares stories about meeting Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock, recording The Smiths' classic "How Soon Is Now" and why Duane Eddy's "Have Twangy Guitar, Will Travel" would make a good mantra for him. But first, we get started with a live performance of "Spiral Cities." Hear the session in the player.

Copyright 2019 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.