The Waterboys
Out of All This Blue
(BMG UK Limited)

The slap beat snare, organ, and flicking guitar of “Do We Choose Who Love,” opens The Waterboys’ sprawling latest release, Out Of All This Blue. “If I Was Your Boyfriend,” a funky naughty little romp follows, features strings riding high over the distorted guitar and flumpy bass line.

The Waterboys were at one time an Irish/Scottish/ folk/rock band, producing albums like the elegant, This Is The Sea and Fisherman’s Blues. Mike Scott, the band’s leader, singer, songwriter, guitarist (although we can’t forget the instrumental genius of this band with Steve Wickham, and Ralph Salmins on drums, and Paul Brown on keyboards and backing vocals) takes his band through nearly 30 tunes ranging from funk to disco to pop. Lyrically we are getting lots about love, Scott having recently married and had a child; so the man is happy, here it is.

“New York I Love You,” is a perfect horn-backed, cowbell-led, power chord-concoction single. It’s followed by a truly rockin’ Lenny Kravitz-like stomper, “The Connemara Fox.” This heavy pair represents early highlights for me. We get some slippery country with “Kinky’s History Lesson,” a song that slogs on a little too long, to teach songwriter/singer/satirist Kinky Friedman that England never surrendered in World War Two.

Then there’s the slicing guitar, programmed drums, and spoken word of “The Elegant Companion,” the poppy “Yamaben,” and the sly cool of “Payo Payo Chin,” (Scott claims this is a cute way to say good morning in his wife’s language, Japanese) come as a definite tribute to Scott’s love, and all but end Out Of All This Blue.