Just weeks after Harvest Records, a division of Capitol, dropped musician Morrissey, he has written a lengthy note detailing his relationship with the label on the fanzine, True to You. The writing is entitled, “Please Close The Door Behind Me”.
Everything began to go wrong for the musician following the release of his latest album, “World Peace Is None Of Your Business”. It is his tenth album, and he took to the fanzine to express his dislike of how the label was promoting the new release. And, this sudden removal from Harvest’s artist roster raised the question: is Morrissey dropped from his label or is he not?
Harvest Records responded to media inquiries from Billboard, and stated that although Morrissey was not on their roster, he is still under contract for an additional two albums.
In “Please Close The Door Behind Me”, Morrissey began by laying out his relationship with the label, and explained that in the beginning it was a good fit for his career.
“It is quite true that Harvest initially appeared like a saintly beacon of light, and they instantly packed us off to France where we recorded World peace is none of your business. The universe was back in balance, and we all considered this to be the very best Morrissey recording ever, and even the boo-hoo-suck-it-off elements of the press appeared to want to agree. At last I am born. It all seemed too good to be true. It was.”
He expressed a dislike for the way in which his promotion was handled, stating that spoken word films, created by the label, did not explain the concept of the album.
I believed that the rich soil of the album had several strong hit singles. Frayed tempers began when Harvest arranged the ‘spoken word’ films, none of which gave any clue as to what World peace is none of your business intended to be, or is. The films were OK, but they went nowhere and stayed there.
And, he went on to write:
Sorrily botched the project may now be, but it’s worth it to get Morrissey out of our Inbox. Yes, I can be intensely persistent, and I certainly have an over-active fantasy-life, but the Harvest experience tells us that despite the blinding flash of teeth and smiles, it doesn’t take much for the coin to flip and suddenly we’re all compromised and shattered. All you need to do is disagree with the vanity of the label boss and your beheading will be slotted in between bottles of the most average champagne on the market. Just one weak-chinned drone can assert the fist of injustice and all of our efforts are flushed away.”
Pitchfork interpreted this section to indicate, or hint, that Morrissey may be departing Harvest for good, following disputes with the head of the label, Mr. Steve Barnett.
One last revelation has since come to pass.
In “Please Close The Door Behind Me”, Morrissey lead readers to believe that his album, “World Peace Is None Of Your Business” may be removed from iTunes until he found a new label, and Slicing Eyeballs noted that the album is no longer available on iTunes or the streaming service, Spotify. The spoken word videos have been removed by Youtube and Vevo, as of 12.45 p.m. on August 21, 2014, according to Pitchfork. Additionally, Pitchfork notes that Amazon removed the album’s digital download; however, it remains available to purchase as a physical copy in CD or vinyl.
To read Morrissey’s entire statement click here.
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