Kevin Bronson on February 17th, 2009

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Visiting Alain Whyte’s MySpace page makes you want to dash out some lyrics, grab a microphone and start singing. There, he has posted a half-dozen rock ‘n’ roll tracks that are stereo-ready – except for the absence of vocals. That’s the way the L.A.- based songwriter and producer works, and has for years with his most frequent collaborator, Morrissey.

Whyte, who played in Morrissey’s band for more than a decade and co-wrote more than 80 songs with him (including “Tomorrow,” “Irish Blood, English Heart” and “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful”), had a hand in five tracks on the new album, “Years of Refusal,” which came out today. “Yes, I’m biased,” Whyte says with a laugh, “but overall I think it’s a great album.

“I really think it shows Morrissey’s maturity and diversity and his willingness to set off in new directions. He’s made an effort to venture into new areas he’s never explored, although there’s always going to be an element in his music that’s distinctly him.”

Whyte, one of three collaborators (with Boz Boorer and Jesse Tobias) on the album, wrote some 40 demos of instrumental tunes for Morrissey’s first album in three years, “and he picked the ones that worked for him to write words to,” Whyte says. Since he departed Morrissey’s band in 2004, Whyte has stayed busy as a songwriter for television, as well as working a production capacity with artists such as Deerheart and JoAnna James. He’s also collaborated a bit with Tiger Army.

Does he ever wish, as a writer, he could pen the whole package? “I’ve just always been a better music writer than I am an overall songwriter. … I’m not exactly the world’s greatest lyricist,” he says. “By now, I know my strengths and weaknesses.”