Morrissey‘s support for a reactionary anti-immigrant political party in the U.K. has in recent weeks drawn condemnation from Nick Cave, Billy Bragg, and more. The latest to speak out about it are Damon Albarn and his The Good, the Bad and the Queen bandmate Paul Simonon. In a new interview with NME, the pair suggested Morrissey simply doesn’t understand his home country’s political conditions after living in Los Angeles for about two decades.
“He lives in California. He doesn’t care. He’s just doing it to wind people up,” Albarn said.
“Sometimes, if you are away and you don’t live in the country, then you’ve got a misconception of what the reality is from the ground up,” Simonon replied. “It’s the same as [Trump-supporting Sex Pistols frontman] John Lydon—he’s sort of got to a certain level and he’s [entitled] to his views, but if you don’t live here, your vision of it is in a bubble.”
“You shouldn’t even have an opinion,” Albarn added. “If you don’t live in the country, then you shouldn’t be dabbling in its politics because to have the sensitivity to understand, you have to live amongst the emotional world of the people as well, not just the idea of something. That’s a long way from reality. … So I think if you wanna be miserable and English, you’ve gotta be miserable and English. You know, really be it.”
While many musicians have criticized Morrissey for his support of For Britain, the Killers’ Brandon Flowers admitted that despite the Smiths singer’s position, in his eyes, Morrissey is “still a king.”
The Good, the Bad, and the Queen returned last November with Merrie Land, their first album since the supergroup’s self-titled 2007 debut. The band is currently touring Europe behind the new LP. You can read NME’s full interview with Albarn and Simonon here.
