Happy New Year, for what I hope will be a fantastic year for music (though, to be fair, one of my theories is that every year has lots of good music, you just have to look for it harder some years than others).

I’ll be doing a piece on albums to look forward to this year, but one of the records I’m looking forward to in January is the latest album from The Waterboys, Modern Blues. Released on January 19 It’s their twelfth studio album by my reckoning, and the tracklisting is as follows.

1. Destinies Entwinned
2. November Tale
3. Still A Freak
4. I Can See Elvis
5. The Girl Who Slept For Scotland
6. Rosalind (You Married The Wrong Guy)
7. Beautiful Now
8. Nearest Thing To Hip
9. Long Strange Golden Road

There’s a handful of videos doing the rounds enabling you to hear some of the tracks from the record.

According to the Waterboys’ website, the album was recorded in Nashville, and as well as long-term fiddle player Steve Wickham, the album also features Memphis keya player “Brother” Paul Brown and bassist David Hood from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Adding to the soul flavour is Austin soul guitarist Zach Ernst while backing vocalists include southern soul legend Don Bryant.