With 2004's comeback creation You Are the Quarry, Morrissey appeared to have finally found his stride - penning an album that was socially, culturally and personally relevant. Now with new opus Ringleader of the Tormentors, he seems to have exorcised the majority of his demons and found his libido in the process. Perhaps his most overtly frank album yet, Ringleader.. sees Morrissey tackling the issues of love (To Me You Are A Work Of Art), unrequited love (Life Is A Pigsty), patricide (The Father Who Must Be Killed), sex (Dear God Please Help Me) and there's even an intimation of optimism alongside the usual wry deprecation (At Last I Am Born).Embracing the maxim 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' wholeheartedly, the inclusion of an Italian children's choir on The Youngest Was The Most Loved, The Father Who Must Be Killed and At Last I Am Born is both a blithe and sweet touch; while another Italiano's inclusion - that of Ennio Morricone - is eminent on the sparse delicacy of Dear God Please Help Me. Vocally, Morrissey has never been in finer fettle, his range and rich velvety croon equally combative, and in places, vulnerable; the players, with new band addition and erstwhile collaborator (You Have Killed Me) Mikey J. Farrell are reaching their zenith, providing beefy riffs and rollicking glam-rock backing tracks without reserve. Producer Tony Visconti has excelled at the helm, cultivating and further energizing Morrissey's revival, adding canny effects here and there (a King Lear-esque background storm on Life Is A Pigsty, a swirling Arabic pitch on I Will See You In Far Off Places) and creating a warm, lush ambience throughout. If there is any sense of familiarity on Ringleader of the Tormentors, it is that of the comforting kind, and not of stale repetition. The Renaissance continues apace.
