For less established artists, the Internet is proving to be the new place to drop a CD. Mike Scott and the Waterboys are the latest to abandon traditional distribution with Kiss the Wind, an exclusive download-only album.
This is their first CD since last year’s woefully ignored Book of Lightning, which was a return to classic mystical form for the band. Kiss the Wind features 16 rare or previously unreleased tracks, recorded 1991-2006, selected by Scott from the Waterboys archives.
This is an extremely fertile period for the band that includes Dream Harder (‘93), Secret Life of the Waterboys (‘94), A Rock in the Weary Land (2000), Too Close to Heaven (‘01), Universal Hall (‘03), and Book of Lightning. Most of these discs have appeared on my annual best of columns during the years they were released, and I know I am not the only critic that fell under their spell during this last decade!
Highlights include the breakneck title track, which sounds like a punk throwback to the first Pretenders album. “Once upon a time a time a time I lived here/I lay my head on a pillow of sky/kiss the wind/here it sigh,” Scott stutters and spits on the hyperactive track.
There are a number of other interesting things on the collection as well. Scott’s demo of “On My Way to the Big Light” is an acoustic lament that raised more than one goose bump on this reviewer’s arm, as did an alternative version of “Let it Happen.”
Live versions of “The Stolen Child,” the epic classic from Fisherman’s Blues, and a cover of the Rolling Stones classic “Wild Horses” round off the collection.
For the first week only the album will be available bundled with extra track-by-track notes written by Scott. From May 5 it will be available by individual track or bundled, but without the extra notes. The album’s price is £7.99, or about $16 if my exchange rate math is correct.
Like many other bands, the Waterboys are also using places like Myspace, Facebook and Bebo to market themselves. Their Myspace page has samples of two of the tracks from the upcoming album, which are selling for about $1 a piece.
This seems to be paying off, as there is a new interest in Scott in Ireland recently. The new version of Fisherman’s Blues’ “Strange Boat,” sung by Eleanor Shanley with backing by Scott, Sharon Shannon and others, was released in Ireland on April 4 and recently went into the Top 20 there. The version of the Waterboys classic features Scott on guitar, keyboards and sound effects.
If you haven’t gotten wet in the Waterboys’ sweet soul in a while, now is your chance to get reacquainted. Check out mikescottwaterboys.com for more information.