Pitchfork

Wow, there sure are a lot of Morrissey fan websites out there. I thought that one, maybe two, would be enough to sustain the world's thirst for The Boy With The Thorn In His Side. But I typed the Moz's name into Google (and then once again, but this time spelled correctly), and I saw how woefully wrong I was. This guy seriously has a cult. Who knew?!

Whether each site fulfills some different niche of Morrissey fandom, I don't know, but right now they're all abuzz with the same news: Jeff Saltzman, the Killers producer who was previously set to twiddle knobs on Morrissey's forthcoming album, is no longer working on the project. Taking his place in the studio is the legendary Tony Visconti, best known for his work with T. Rex and David Bowie.

But there's more! NME.com reports that the album in question now has a title: Ringleader Of The Tormentors. Nice to see that Morrissey's political attacks aren't getting more subtle in his old age, eh? Ringleader is Morrissey's first studio album since 2004's You Are The Quarry, which won Pitchfork's coveted "38th-Best Album of 2004" award. According to True to You, one of the aforementioned fan sites, Morrissey describes the new album as "the most beautiful-- perhaps the most gentle so far." Strange, considering his publicist told us last month that this would be a "balls-to-the-wall" rock record, and "not slow like the last one." Fans will find out who's telling the truth when the album is released next April. It better be some weird fusion of hardcore and folk, or we'll be totally disappointed.

* Pitchfork News: Morrissey at Work on New Album