Morrissey accuses Capitol Records of shelving album, while promoting Sam Smith's 'Satanism'

15 February 2023, 13:15

Morrissey has criticised his Capitol Records and included Sam Smith in his rant. Picture: 1. Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP/Shutterstock 2. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy 3. Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty

By Jenny Mensah

The former Smiths frontman has lashed out at the label over the release of his Bonfire of Teenagers album.

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Morrissey has hit out at Capitol Records, accusing them of not releasing his Bonfire of Teenagers album, but has brought Sam Smith into the mix.

Taking to the Messages From Morrissey section of his Morrissey Central website, he shared an entry which read: "Capitol Records (Los Angeles) proudly promotes Sam Smith’s ‘satanism’; yet they consider the honest truth of Morrissey’s factual ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ to be their biggest threat and they will not release it despite their contractual obligation and promise to do so."

The former Smiths frontman was referring to the recent controversy over Sam Smith's performances at the GRAMMYs and the criticism they've faced from some conservative Christians.

An earlier statement from Morrissey this month delved further into his spat with the label, and saw him claim that he's been told his new album is "too diverse".

"Morrissey is ‘too diverse’ for Universal Music Group,' he wrote. "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."

He added: "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."

It's not the only time the Suedehead singer has felt the need to defend himself recently. Just last month he declared that he is "not far right," while addressing Miley Cyrus wanting to distance herself from his I Am Veronica track.

"I am aware that the ludicrous 'Morrissey is Far Right' attributions have very recently wiggled back into minor vogue on all of the usual gossip sites," he said.

"This rush is, I am assured, in view of Miley Cyrus wanting to be removed from 'I Am Veronica', and suddenly the very dated rehash of "This is because of Morrissey's political views" wobbles out - delighting those for whom I am a book that under no circumstances can they stop reading."

Morrissey also discussed cancel culture and revealed that he'd hoped that it at least meant he would stay out of the press entirely and never receive any bad reviews.

He went on: "I had secretly hoped that the glorious benefit of being cancelled would be that I could never again receive a bad review, because even to give me yet another oh-so-predictable bad review confirms that I am not, after all, cancelled. But the Cancel Vultures write only in headlines; they do not answer questions; their darts aim only for the inspired elite of perceptive intelligence."