With a run of very special arena dates across Dublin, London and Glasgow this summer, The Waterboys have announced Atlantic Rain, a three-disc set of previously unheard music from the classic Fisherman’s Blues era, which is released July 17th on Chrysalis Records. Listen to the album’s first cut ‘Too Close To Heaven’ HERE.
Consisting of 25 tracks, Atlantic Rain contains long-lost music recorded during the prodigious sessions for Fisherman’s Blues (1986-88). During this period the Waterboys recorded almost 400 multi-track reels of music, many running at half-speed in order to pack more music on without having to change tapes. Around a fifth of these reels had no song titles on them, only notes like ‘instrumental’, ‘unknown’, ‘soundcheck’ or ‘jam’.
Band leader Mike Scott finally went through these mysterious tapes in 2024-25 and found many long-forgotten release-worthy performances, including never before heard songs such as ‘Come Back To Galway’, ‘Light Shine On Me’ and ‘Endless Store’, the epic ‘Man With The Wind At His Heels’, and gorgeous covers of numbers by Dylan, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie and Willie Nelson. These and many other lost treasures have been collected to create this stunning set which stands proudly in addition to the now legendary 6-disc Fisherman’s Box, released in 2013, thought at the time to be the last word on the Fisherman’s Blues sessions.
On its original release in 1988 Fisherman’s Blues marked a change in direction for the band after their early alternative rock albums. Relocating to Ireland they embraced roots, country and celtic music – and as Atlantic Rain shows, the palette also included soul, old-time gospel and ecstatic instrumental explorations. In its day Fisherman’s Blues was met with bemusement, delight and rage, depending on peoples’ perspectives, and has gone on to become the band’s biggest selling album.
Alongside the announcement of Atlantic Rain comes an accompanying remix of the classic ‘We Will Not be Lovers’, recently featured in the hit Netflix show ‘Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen.’ Listen to it HERE.
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