The Waterboys – Where The Action Is
Cooking Vinyl – 24 May 2019
The image of high-speed city lights in motion immediately flags up a new Waterboys album that is going to pack an electric, modern sounding punch. The opening track arrives with fanfare; it kicks the door down sonically as a most definitive statement of intent. We really are straight in where the action is, as the listener is driven on top of a full-throttle electric riff and one of the most instantly memorable chorus hooks of the band’s career. The instrumental break is a deliciously fuzzy electric violin part, the beat is foot tappers candy and the words speak of boldly taking risks (“love isn’t words honey, love is action”) as singer Mike cheekily self-references his past (“put my feet on a rock that wasn’t made by hands”) clearly intent on getting his hands dirty once more. It’s a head-spinning joy of an opener, what George Martin used to describe as a real “potboiler”. And thinking back on past Waterboys albums that have killer first tracks, ‘Fisherman’s Blues’, ‘Dream Harder’ and ‘A Rock In The Weary Land’ all began with that very same thing, the album that follows is never a let-down. Now, ‘Where The Action Is’ can surely be added to that list.
The Waterboys have shaken up their line up once again over the past couple of years but, as always, they remain the song writing vehicle for the singular Mike Scott. Throughout his near 40-year career he has written and played like a man who believes in magic and love. As such he is one of the rare breeds who truly follows his instincts as an artist; while this may label him frustratingly awkward a-la Van Morrison or Neil Young to some, the four-decade spanning Waterboys back catalogue surely justifies the working methods. Sometimes you just have to trust the artist, you see for all the times he’s not delivered me exactly what I was expecting I’ve never left disappointed. In Ipswich, in 1994, I was ready to drink from the raggle-taggle-rolling-thunder well and instead found a man at peace with his meditative solo project. Three years later (by which time I’d caught up recognising ‘Bring ‘Em All In’ as one of the great underrated albums of the 90s) I found he’d already moved on, plugging in with Ian McNabb at the Cambridge Corn Exchange seemingly ready to channel the spirit of Crazy Horse. By the turn of the century he accepted that his musical garden needed nurture under the Waterboys umbrella once more; now nearly twenty years further down the line that’s looking like the wisest of choices. While the line up has revolved and evolved, the muse has been afforded the platform to grow into any direction the antenna leads. Two years ago, ‘Out Of This Blue’ found our man revitalised and embracing a more soulful, sixties Motown vibe. However, if you think the relatively quick follow up is going to be more of the same think again, we should know better than that by now.
‘Where The Action Is’ is an album that manages to both break new ground and touch base with the Waterboys heritage. Initially, the pace is maintained as Mike counts in ‘London Mick’, a punky little ode to The Clash’s Mick Jones. Here’s a strand of honorary composition that Mike has been adept at since ‘A Girl Called Johnny’ right back on the band’s first album. That Patti Smith shoutout was followed by ‘The Return Of Jimi Hendrix’ in the nineties and the brilliant Keith Richards caricature ‘Mr Charisma’ in 2017. Now he’s looking back fondly on his formative punk years and recalling shared moments with the Clash man himself; apparently, they watched Spinal Tap together. It’s another ingredient of the Scott oeuvre, the way there’s no real line distinguishing the fact from the fiction in his writing. He sees the poetry in life’s mundane interactions; that’s why he didn’t merely travel to Ireland with Steve Wickham in 1986 but instead jumped on a bus and followed-the-fella-who-fiddles! Anyway, the other side of the song form cap-doffing coin is that occasionally a real-life adversary will also get the treatment on record. Anyone who recalls the way former bandmate Karl Wallinger was on the receiving end of a pointed goading with 1988’s ‘World Party’ may wonder if that same irritation is vexing Scott to this day when they hear a lyric like “once I knew a man, never could be wrong. He would argue with every damn word of this song”.
Three tracks in and things start to go a little deeper and darker. ‘Out Of All This Blue’ is a sweet soul soother that presumably was intended for the title track on the band’s previous release. Mike has indicated that he never settled on a satisfactory version for that record; whatever the issue it’s ended up a lovely piece that deserved this level of exacting attention. ‘Right Side Of Heartbreak (Wrong Side Of Love)’ may be deceptively simple but it’s a soul-pop slow burner that proves this current line-up to be a versatile unit that are giving Mike the assuredness the push the boundaries of his composing. ‘In My Time On Earth’ is a notable centrepiece to the record; this is a bruised but unbeaten testament to the speaking of the heart and truth as one perceives it in life’s brief window. It’s an out-and-out piece of audio drama, hushed and thoughtful during the verses then shout-out loud passionate during the vocals. There are echoes of ‘Hallelujah’ to its hymn-like execution which makes me think that this is one of the most obvious would-be hit songs in the Waterboys songbook. If it is not to be the band itself that has the kudos, then I hope another Ellie Goulding type mainstream act arrives at some stage and realises the mass-appeal potential in this track.
I’m sure Mike Scott still believes he writes hit records. ‘Ladbroke Grove Symphony’ pools numerous 21st Century production effects and sound effects, he does love to work the studio sonics in his songs when they lend themselves to this approach. City and subway sounds, a distant throbbing dub bass and some street exchanges lead into ‘Take Me There I Will Follow You’. It might be a surprise to some to learn that this is a beat-heavy track where Mike records his first ever rap vocal. I’d argue that he’s always had his ear open to all music and 2017’s ‘Hiphopstrumental 4 (Scatman)’ was a very pointed hint that the Scott rapping debut was imminent. It’s probably just the associations with certain types of rap that might raise the eyebrows, but Mike was never going to start riffing on gun violence, bling and sexism was he? I’m sure he’s aware that rap itself can be traced back to its African roots in the West African griot tradition and looking at it in that context, he treats the form with respect and takes extra care not to be too cliched in his rhyming. It has to be said though, the strength in the track is once again in that juicy chorus hook. This man has an ear for a pop melody that cannot be overstated.
As we approach the album’s close, some elements of the Waterboys folk and Irish sounds make a re-appearance. ‘Then She Made The Lasses-O’ is more than a nod towards Robert Burns, and the fiddle reels that play over the up-tempo drum patterns are the most obvious traditional folk reference point on the album. Finally, there’s a folk-tinged, piano-based, tranquil nine-minute epic to bring the record to a grand conclusion. ‘The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ finds Mike and his inner thespian deliciously rolling his tongue over the words of Kenneth Grahame from ‘Wind In The Willows’. At the album’s end, I am suspecting that this could be one of the most versatile and open collections the Waterboys have ever given us. They are literally capable of going in absolutely any direction from here; for a man brought up on the musical eclecticism of the Beatles sixties, that must be a mighty fine position to find yourself in. A hard-won battle for musical freedom for sure but crucially, he still has the songs to back it up. So, in summary, I still love the Waterboys!
Where The Action Is is released today via Cooking Vinyl.
Available on Digital / CD / Vinyl – Regular | Deluxe
The Waterboys are on tour now:
24 May – Roundhouse, London
25 May – Symphony Hall, Birmingham
27 May – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
28 May – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
29 May – Sage, Gateshead
8 Aug – Cropredy Festival, near Oxford
5 Sept – Skye Live Festival, Isle of Skye
6 Sept – Aberdeen Music Hall
7 Sept – Glasgow Barrowland
Ticket links: https://twb.lnk.to/live