Following a four year hiatus, Joe Jackson will release his new studio album ‘Rain’ this January.
Jackson is one of the UK’s most influential singer songwriters and found fame during the punk and New Wave movement of 1978. His debut single ‘Is She Really Going Out With Him?’ became a massive hit around the world and debut album ‘Look Sharp’ further cemented this position. His mile stone album ‘Night & Day’ boasted another worldwide hit in the form of 1982 single ‘Steppin’ Out’. He recently performed ‘Common People’ with William Shatner and Ben Folds on the Tonight Show.
I used to be a bit of a workaholic, but I am now much more patient.
With a career that spans three decades, Jackson’s latest album has been stripped right back to basics. Produced in his newly-adopted city of Berlin the title suggests this could be a somewhat gloomy offering, an interpretation that Jackson is quick to argue. “I wanted something elemental because that’s the kind of album I wanted to make,” Jackson explains. “There is no padding on it at all; the album is stripped to the bare essentials, so I hope it has a timeless quality. The title seems to fit. It seemed like rain was a constant companion. It always seemed to be raining when I was working on these songs, and it rained every day while we were recording them. But I like the rain, and I don’t understand why for many people it has this automatic association with doom and gloom. What would we do without rain?” Um, stay dry?
Speaking of the time elapsed between last album ‘Volume 4’ and his new release, Jackson says: “I wasn’t in a hurry to make a new album. I promised myself that I wouldn’t make a record until I had an album’s worth of songs that were the best I could do. I think several of these songs are the best songs I’ve ever written, and I wanted to have 10 or 12 songs that I felt that way about before I put out another album. I used to be a bit of a workaholic, but I am now much more patient. The quantity has gone down, but the quality has gone up.” This wisdom could certainly teach the glut of MySpace bands we are forced to endure a thing or two.
Jackson is joined on this album by two of the original Joe Jackson Band members: bassist Graham Maby and drummer Dave Houghton. Doing away with guitars they have done for soulful punk and rock what Keane did for dad-rock and indie.
‘Rain’ sees Jackson let his voice do most of the talking and there are certainly melancholy moments, as the title would suggest. However, there’s also plenty of humor, sophistication, barbed social commentary and punk rock-outs, as the singer explores everything from relationships to the image of the modern day rebel.
Rain will be released in conjunction with a bonus DVD directed by Julie Gardner, recording engineer on Jackson’s last two albums. As well as live performances and behind-the-scenes footage the DVD will feature interviews with Jackson’s band mates and a rare interview with the man himself.
Joe Jackson will embark on a European tour in February. See below for dates.
‘Rain’ will be released by Rykodisk on January 28 2008.
European Tour
Wed – Feb 27th
Germany/UK , Warm Up?
Fri – Feb 29th
Location: Dublin, Ireland, Olympia Theatre?
Sun – Mar 2nd
Location: London, UK, Shepherds Bush Empire
