So Sick Edits

The Waterboys Drop Sneering, Swaggery New Song ‘The Soul Singer’

The Waterboys are out with a high-energy, jazzy new song “The Soul Singer,” the opening track to their upcoming 14th studio album, Good Luck, Seeker (out August 21st via Cooking Vinyl).

The song dropped Wednesday via a psychedelic video featuring sneering lead singer Mike Scott, his omnipresent cowboy hat and Dublin singer Jess Kav. “He gets away with being rude,” Scott sings in smooth, accented tones. “‘Cause everyone’s scared of his quicksilver mood/The soul singer.” The track is replete with horns, yelps and plenty of swagger.

“The Soul Singer” is the second song off of Good Luck, Seeker — following “My Wanderings in the Weary Land” — which is the final album in a triptych of rock-heavy albums that include 2017’s Out of All This Blue and 2019’s Where the Action Is. “Its 14 songs are populated by unrepentant freaks, soul legends, outlaw film stars and 20th Century mystics, drawing inspiration from the Stones, Kate Bush, Sly and Kendrick as well as Mike Scott’s very own musical past,” a release reads.

Like most of us, Scott has been stuck in isolation since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In April, he told Rolling Stone he’s been spending his time inside with his daughter and unpacking his new studio. “I’ve been unpacking, setting up instruments and speakers, hanging pictures, sticking stuff on the walls — lots of black and white photos for some reason: Brian Jones, Dennis Hopper, Andy Warhol and the Factory. These are the cats who’re inspiring me right now,” he said. “And working on my own music, making future Waterboys albums.”

The musician also recently joined TikTok, where he has been posting off-the-wall videos in which recreates moments in Beatles history (real or imagined) via action figures.