PMAG -15 Contemplation Achievement May 2015 Contemplation June 2015 Achievement | Page 38
MUSIC
THE WATERBOYS
Modern Blues
T
he cover of the Waterboys’ latest album “Modern Blues” displays a moss-covered figure
with human hands barely peeking out of what seems an entirely overgrown structure. It’s
a plushy, patchworky, faceless Green Man. Incongruous for an album of highly palatable
alt-rock/blues? Only if you don’t know Mike Scott.
The Waterboys have been around since 1981, with a changing roster anchored by one
continuous presence (save 1995-7, during which the band was on hiatus): Mike Scott. This
Puckish rock troubadour has seen The Waterboys through a number of different sounds over
the years, from 80s rock to Irish folk to a harder “sonic” rock sound to a more experimental
setting of Yeats poetry to “Modern Blues”, recorded in Nashville and garnering him his first
MUSIC
appearance on US shows
like Letterman.
The Waterboys have always been a motley
group that tended to hail
variously from Scotland,
Ireland and England, but
“Modern Blues” features
an American backing
group with solid pedigree, such as former Aretha Franklin bassist David
Hood, and keyboardist
“Brother” Paul Brown, who
has toured with Rush and
Mike Ferris. The sounds
are sweet and solid, nestled within the Waterboys
ethos yet beating with the
heart of Nashville, especially in the ballad Long
Strange Golden Road,
the November Tale of
exes finding peace with
each other, and The Girl
Who Slept for Scotland,
the odd story about a lover who was a champion
sleeper. They concede
nothing to today’s tendency for severely overhyped EDM or cottoncandy pop. If anything,
Modern Blues feels as
though it’s playing things
just a bit too safe, not trying to innovate. The sonic
richness is the only thing
that keeps it from feeling
at times like it could have
been released in the 80s
or 90s.
Well, Mike Scott is a dedicated rock and roller who
knows what he likes. But
don’t be fooled - there’s
actually quite a bit of
edge in the spirit of this album. The sweet-spot rock
lulls you in and before you
know it, you hear Mike remark, “It was the nearest
thing to hip in this shithole,
and it’s gone.”
Mike Scott is a storyteller,
with an engaging sound
to his voice that seems
to marry a sense of wonder and enthusiasm with
a conversational tone, as
though you’re in a pub together and he’s just got to
sit you down and tell you
this thing that happened.
At its best there’s a sense
of true awe, as has shone
in the past through Glastonbury Song or This Is The
Sea or The Big Music, and
as we hear again by the
end of this album’s leadoff
track Destinies Entwined,
that seems to contem-
plate the notion of the
karmas we move through
in our life. But there’s also
a certain degree of punk
rage glimpsed in Nearest Thing to Hip and Still a
Freak, harking back to Is
She Conscious and I Will
Not Follow.
Modern Blues is Mike Scott
continuing to bring a
punk pagan spirit to even
the institution of good old
rock and roll. He has done
some spiritual work and
he seems to know not to
take himself and his identity too seriously - “I’m just
a bunch of words in pants,
most of those are fiction.”
Modern Blues, timeless
rock, and a green man
who almost wants to dissolve into nature - the
cover nailed it.
Pranada Devi is a communications professional living in Toronto,
Canada. She is the Managing Editor of Parvati Magazine, and serves as
an advisor on marketing communications for Parvati’s various projects.
Recently, she edited Parvati’s new book “Confessions of a Former Yoga
Junkie”, which is has gone on to sell out its first two printing runs.