Good Luck, Seeker
The Waterboys are quite possibly one of my all-time favourite bands. I’ve seen them a fair bit over the last few years and every time I see them, they captivate me. Check out the review of their last tour in support of their last record, ‘Where The Action Is’ here. In short, I bloody loved it! Now, just 12 months later, they have yet another album out, ‘Good Luck Seeker’, recorded during Lockdown and if the reviews are anything to go by, I am in for a treat!
An album that really takes you on a musical journey from that big music sound of the eighties all combined with echoes of that raggle taggle folky thrum of Fisherman’s Blues, while people only just discovering The Waterboys will be delighted and enthralled by Mike Scott’s lyrical skill, he really should be poet laureate, but then I guess we wouldn’t have The Waterboys anymore would we! This album is just magical.
Opening with ‘Soul Singer’ this is a really powerful start to the album. Bursting with colour this is such a great track, with all the energy and vigour you would expect from The Waterboys. Opening with a blast of brass, this is a real foot tapper and head bopper. Vocally its great too, contrasting Mike’s Bob Dylan meets Mark Knopfler style vocals with soulful Jess Kav’s souring pipes. The result is musical bliss.
Next up is ‘You’ve Got To Kiss A Frog Or Two’ which combines spoken word with a funky back beat of R&B and Hip Hop. This is a fairy tale for the modern age and again a fine display of Mike’s lyrical genius. A flip in style once again for the next track, ‘Low Down In The Broom’ which would be quite at home on the ‘Fishermans Blues’ album and possibly the album highlight for me. A rousing folk tale, Mike’s guitar chugging away with Steve Wickham’s fiddle urging to be set free, but it is all somewhat restrained. Perhaps this is the most understated track of the album and it is very much contained, which is vastly different to what we are all used to and certainly not what springs to mind when we think of that epic Waterboys production!
‘Dennis Hopper’ is another gem, the catchy chorus I can imagine being sung back at Mike and the boys when live gigs resume. It really is a total earworm too, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head all week. ‘Freak Street’ is a weird and wonderful 80s disco, urban fusion track that leads into ‘Sticky Fingers’ brilliantly. Sticky Fingers is somewhat of a musical interlude, with wisps of Brother Pauls keys, but again, like Steve’s fiddle in ‘Low Down in The Broom’, the keys are understated and disappointingly don’t take front centre! I guess I’ll have to wait for the live show for that!
I have to mention ‘My Wanderings In The Weary Land’ – this is such a grand track and probably the most ‘Waterboys’ esque song on the album. The band are playing with such energy, Steve Wickham’s iconic fiddle sounding out loud and proud. There has been some reviewers that have hinted that this is the final album of a trilogy, beginning with ‘Out of All This Blue’ from 2017, and if that is the case, musically at least, this is perhaps the musical response to the track ‘Morning Came Too Soon’, I wonder if that was intentional? Mike’s story telling is mystical, almost preacher like and as the song builds and Mike testifies, you can’t help but get swept along. And then, just like that, it stops.
‘Postcard From The Celtic Dreamtime’ is the calm after the storm that came before. Floaty synths, swirling fiddle, this is absolutely serene. More spoken word with the title track, ‘Good Luck Seeker’, a hopeful passage of writing from Occultist Dion Fortune that Mike recites. His delivery is great and in character I might add. He takes on the persona of Sir George Trevelyan, an old school fruity-voiced English mystical teacher and his characterisation is spot on. The album comes to a close with ‘The Land Of Sunset’. A beautiful epilogue, that fades, just as the light does every day. Celtic whistles a plenty, with Brother Pauls keys underneath. Such a moving moment.
Good Luck Seeker is certainly a treat to behold. Such an eclectic album, with so much musical variety. There is something for everyone, I defy anyone to say they didn’t at least like one track on the album. Mike Scott is a master song writer and wordsmith and should be held with as much esteem as we have for the greats. He is in the same class and this album especially is a great showcase of his writing skill and spoken word!
Released By: Cooking Vinyl
Release Date: 21st August
