On June 3, Morrissey is picking up where he left off.  Parlophone Records will follow the February CD/DVD reissue of 1992’s Your Arsenal with the next album in his considerable catalogue, 1994’s Vauxhall and I.  Like Your Arsenal, the remastered CD of Vauxhall will be packaged with a previously unreleased live concert performance, this time also on CD.

Vauxhall and I was a very different animal than its predecessor.  Since the release of Arsenal, the artist had suffered the loss of that album’s producer, Mick Ronson.  He paired with producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Big Country) for Vauxhall.  Lillywhite crafted a spare, often acoustic aesthetic to match the dark, somber and introspective songs written by Morrissey with his collaborators Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer.  Whyte and Boorer both contributed guitar to the LP and were joined by Jonny Bridgwood on bass and Woodie Taylor on drums.  The result was a stripped-down, elegiac, less heavily guitar-oriented LP.

Parlophone’s press release describes it as follows: “Vauxhall and I signaled an acceptance of ageing amidst the tyranny of time, casting off the shackles of the past, with a will to embrace the future. Along the way the album visits a cast of characters, including, references to Brighton Rock – gorgeous, exhilarating album opener ‘Now My Heart Is Full’ – those whom disregard all social conventions and ‘take life at five times the average speed’ (‘Spring-Heeled Jim’) and rejected romantics (‘Billy Budd’ – also a Herman Melville character). It also lays waste to ignorant and selfish tourist whom are ‘jaded by stagnation’ (‘The Lazy Sunbathers’), the unthinking and unquestioning (‘Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself’ – later covered by The Killers), and tackles the inevitable loss of innocence (‘Used To Be A Sweet Boy’), amongst other inimitable themes.”

Despite the personal nature of the material, however, the artist scored an unexpected hit.  Lead single "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" became his only song – either solo or with The Smiths - to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., where it reached No. 46.  It also reached No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. In his native United Kingdom, the track went all the way to No. 8, and was the artist’s only Top 10 of the decade.    The album itself was also a success.  In the U.S., it made the Top 20 of the Billboard 200; in the U.K., it became Morrissey’s second No. 1 album after his 1988 solo debut Viva Hate.

After the jump, we have more on Vauxhall and I including pre-order links and the full track listing of both CDs!

This twentieth-anniversary Definitive Master of Vauxhall and I has been freshly remastered by Bill Inglot.  The bonus CD presents Morrissey in concert circa on February 26, 1995 at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.  The concert’s fourteen tracks include five selections from Vauxhall, music from Your Arsenal, the non-LP single “Boxers,” and a performance of the Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer standard “Moon River.”  Previously unseen photos are promised to be a part of the package.  In addition to the 2-CD edition, Parlophone will also issue Vauxhall on LP (with just the original album) and digital download.

Vauxhall and I is due for release on June 3 in the U.S. (June 2 in the U.K.), and can be pre-ordered at the links below!

Morrissey, Vauxhall and I: 20th Anniversary Definitive Master (Parlophone, 2014)

2-CD Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

CD 1/Vinyl LP: Original LP (released as Parlophone PCSD 148 (U.K.) / Sire/Reprise 45451 (U.S.), 1994)

1. Now My Heart is Full
2. Spring-Heeled Jim
3. Billy Budd
4. Hold On to Your Friends
5. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
6. Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself
7. I Am Hated for Loving
8. Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning
9. Used to Be a Sweet Boy
10. The Lazy Sunbathers
11. Speedway

CD 2: Live At The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane - 2/26/1995

1. Billy Budd
2. Have-a-Go Merchant
3. Spring-Heeled Jim
4. London
5. You're the One for Me, Fatty
6. Boxers
7. Jack the Ripper
8. We'll Let You Know
9. Whatever Happens, I Love You
10. Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself
11. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
12. The National Front Disco
13. Moonriver
14. Now My Heart is Full