Since launching his solo career in 2013, Johnny Marr has wasted no time in establishing himself as one of Britain’s best-loved indie-rockers. He’s released four studio albums (one of which was a double), three live albums and a compilation, along with a substantial amount of live performing and touring.

Now, on his fifth album, the former Smiths sideman – who was also a member of the Pretenders, the The and Electronic, and worked as a session musician for Pet Shop Boys, Crowded House, Everything but the Girl and Blondie, among others – returns to the fore with ‘The Age of Everything’; a sharply-crafted observation of the present, merging classic melodies with impressive guitar work and an undeniable post-punk flair.

There’s a timelessness established on opening track and lead single ‘Spin’, with jangling guitars and upbeat melody that juxtaposes his commentary on the confusion of torment of modern-day living. There’s a healthy blend of dark and light throughout the album’s ten songs, which capture the overwhelming nature of the technology-driven culture of today while searching for a sense of possibility and renewal.

Marr’s melodic sensibilities are sharp and unfaltering, often referencing touch points in his storied career; there are flourishes of The Smiths in ‘How Come’ and the Lou Reed-referencing ‘In and Out of Love’, while the Shakespeare-inspired ‘Ophelia’ – by his own admission – has elements that wouldn’t be out of place in his work with Electronic.

The cohesion, of course, comes from Marr himself, and the Mancunian draws on decades of honing his craft on tracks like ‘Fire with Fire’ and ‘All in a Life’, which lean into opposing aspects of his solo work, closing the LP first with a rallying call-to-arms, before rounding out the set with a brooding, ominous rumination on whether there is, in fact, a way past the world we’ve created.

At no point does Marr claim to have the answer, and at one point he even acknowledges ‘Melodies and good times / Won’t take away the feeling that lingers’, but on ‘The Age of Everything’ he succeeds in laying out his concerns for the planet while holding onto a sense of hope throughout with some of his strongest work in years.