The Waterboys will release a brand new album early next year entitled Modern Blues via Kobalt on January 20th 2015. The album is a first for the band, as it’s the first release fully recorded in Nashville, Tennessee by the group. Produced by Waterboys leader Mike Scott and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, Modern Blues, the band’s eleventh studio album, contains nine passionate songs, evoking the very best of The Waterboys past work while forging forth to explore new ground. Listen to the first track “Destinies Entwined” below.
Mike Scott entered the studio intent on harnessing the rolling, spontaneous energy that fuelled some of The Waterboys greatest albums. “I set out to make a record with an ensemble playing live, to get that performance spirit. It’s how I recorded Fisherman’s Blues.” To that end, he corralled old hands and new friends. Ralph Salmins, a mainstay on drums for the past four years, appears alongside Scott and talismanic Waterboy Steve Wickham, who weaves a dizzying fuzz fiddle spell on several tracks of Modern Blues.
Fresh to the ranks of the group are Memphis keyboard player “Brother” Paul Brown, and David Hood, legendary bassist from the heyday of FAME studios and Muscle Shoals. “I’ve got the man who played on “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” on bass!” Scott laughs. “He and Paul had a huge impact on the sound.”
Asked why he chose to record in Nashville, Scott (who lives mostly in Dublin) explained, “Nashville has a reputation as Music City, USA and I fancied some of that. It’s one of the few cities that still has a recording studio industry intact, which brings the spur of competition. I know that across town Jack White’s making a record, The Black Keys are making theirs. I like that competitive feeling, it’s exciting. It’s a spur.”
The Waterboys have just announced two UK shows for February and a North American tour is in the works with details to be announced at a later date.
Modern Blues Track Listing
Destinies Entwined
November Tale
Still A Freak
I Can See Elvis
The Girl Who Slept For Scotland
Rosalind You Married The Wrong Girl
Beautiful Now
Nearest Thing To Hip
Long Strange Golden Road
