The Waterboys will release new concept album ‘Life, Death And Dennis Hopper’ on April 4th.
The band – led by the redoubtable Mike Scott – have spent four years piecing the ambitious record together, a conceptual work that hones in on the remarkable life story of actor Dennis Hopper.
Born in small town America, the trailblazer Hollywood figure scaled the heights, before his career was derailed by addiction; later going clean, his late-career resurgence includes seminal works such as Blue Velvet.
Out on April 4th, the record was sculpted by Mike Scott alongside Famous James and Brother Paul, and took four years to bring into focus.
Mike Scott comments…
“It begins in his childhood, ends the morning after his death, and I get to say a whole lot along the way, not just about Dennis, but about the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet earth…”
“The arc of his life was the story of our times. He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol. He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild 10-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
Guests on the album include Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and Fiona Apple, with the first single landing later this week. Catch The Waterboys on tour this Spring, including London’s Roundhouse on May 31st.
Tracklisting:
1. Kansas (featuring Steve Earle)
2. Hollywood’55
3. Live In The Moment, Baby
4. Brooke / 1712 North Crescent Heights
5. Andy (A Guy Like You)
6. The Tourist (featuring Barny Fletcher)
7. Freaks On Wheels
8. Blues For Terry Southern
9. Memories Of Monterey
10. Riding Down To Mardi Gras
11. Hopper’s On Top (Genius)
12. Transcendental Peruvian Blues
13. Michelle (Always Stay)
14. Freakout At The Mud Palace
15. Daria
16. Ten Years Gone (featuring Bruce Springsteen)
17. Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend (featuring Fiona Apple)
18. Rock Bottom
19. I Don’t Know How I Made It (featuring Taylor Goldsmith)
20. Frank (Let’s Fu*k)
21. Katherine (featuring Anana Kaye)
22. Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper
23. Golf, They Say
24. Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper
25. Aftermath
