Years of Refusal, though, isn't as frisky as Arsenal. In fact, this might be Morrissey's most serious album yet, offering far less of his trademark sly campiness than usual. On the first few listens, the whole affair seems like kind of a bummer. You might even find yourself reciting a song title from the last Sparks album: "Lighten Up, Morrissey." It doesn't take long, however, for this album's briars and brambles to get snagged on your brain.

For instance, the titular refrain of opening track "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" is strangely compelling, as Morrissey's rising vocal melody culminates in a nearly shrill vibrato that perfectly echoes the pharmacologically strung-out protagonist's mental state. Thornier still is the following track, "Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed," in which the singer's mother is found dead, and Morrissey's bleak response is to declare, "Life is nothing much to lose." The next song is called "Black Cloud," in case you couldn't already feel the cold, dark shadows gathering around you.

Morrissey lightens things up a little with "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris." With some lovely and Smiths-like chord progressions, it's the poppiest number on the record, although it's still far from happy. Morrissey embraces "stone and steel" only because "nobody wants my love." Awww, poor guy. Another highlight of Years of Refusal is "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell." In addition to being a terrifically Morrissey-esque song title, the track is also gloriously dark and Romantic, with a propulsive double-time march on the snare and even some splashes of Spanish horns.

Not every song on the record is a winner, though. Some seem like their creative geneses began and ended with still more of Morrissey's Morrissey-esque song titles. "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore," "Sorry Doesn't Help," and "I'm OK by Myself" are all built on bluster, with little to offer beyond bashing drums and plaintive crooning about the power to insulate oneself through isolation from otehrs. Still, these less inspired cuts are kept to a minimum and are shoved toward the end of the album, after a fair amount of good will has already been built. Though Morrissey's difficult-yet-addictive new album doesn't quite live up to its two excellent predecessors – You Are the Quarry and Ringleader of the Tormentors – Years of Refusal keeps Morrissey's 21st century comeback streak alive.

Key tracks: "Something Is Squeezing My Skull," "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris," and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell"

-Michael Keefe