Andy Grammer sings about a 'Big Stupid Heart' in October

Andy Grammer, best known for such songs as "Keep Your Head Up" and "Honey, I'm Good," unveiled details of his sixth studio album, Big Stupid Heart, out October 16 via S-Curve Records/Hollywood Records. 

Grammer noted, “I wanted to make a record that feels like permission to care deeply again. Big Stupid Heart celebrates the kind of people who refuse to let heartbreak make them cynical. Honestly this is a daily battle for me, it’s my anti cynicism battle cry.”

Unlike 2024 album Monster, which revolved around anger, grief and emotional honesty, Grammer began work on the new album with the intention of answering the turmoil and division he sees unfolding around the world with something sweet, pure and fierce. 

“There’s a tension and a divide that is just hard to be in the middle of at this moment in history,” Grammer says. “I’m feeling all the feelings more than I ever have in my life.”

The title track is a bittersweet war cry about refusing to let life harden you.

“There’s kind of a desperation at this moment to stay true to your heart,” Grammer says of the song. “This is a war cry to myself to stay open.”

The album also features “Best Hearts,” which Grammer wrote as part of his podcast, Showing Up With Andy Grammer. The weekly series invites listeners to share stories of people who have shown up for them, with Grammer creating an original song in response as his own act of showing up.

“Best Hearts” was inspired by a mother who left a voicemail describing the strength and kindness her son displayed while battling his own mental health struggles. While receiving treatment, he found the strength to comfort another individual who was also struggling. “Can you write a song about people who are getting crushed but still show up for others in that moment?” she asked Grammer.

That question became the center of “Best Hearts,” a tribute to the people who have been shattered by life and somehow still choose strength, resilience and openness.

In speaking with People Magazine he said: “This album is a type of sound that I’ve wanted to capture for a really long time with anthemic cello pop, and I finally got it. The album is about how much cost there is to loving deeply, and the decision to still do it. Keeping an open heart is the boldest thing anyone can do.”

Grammer will start the Greater Than Pt. II: A One Man Show, which launches in November. The solo concert experience blends Grammer’s biggest hits with candid storytelling, audience interaction and personal moments with fans who want to share their own stories.

Track List:

1. Big Stupid Heart

2. Human Being
3. Best Hearts
4. Love Showed Up
5. Don’t Want To Fall In Love
6. All I Want Is You
7. Who Is Saving Who
8. Rather Be
9. Mysterious
10. Happy Place (feat. Walk Off the Earth)
11. Unconditionally
12. Come Home
13. Woven

Tour Dates: 

Sat, Aug 8th — Kannapolis, NC — Village Park Amphitheater

Sun, Aug 9th — Sugar Hill, GA — The Bowl at Sugar Hill
Tue, Aug 11th — Louisville, KY — Iroquois Amphitheater
Wed, Aug 12th — Indianapolis, IN — Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
Fri, Aug 14th — Council Bluffs, IA — Harrah's Council Bluffs, Stir Cove
Sat, Aug 15th — New Lenox, IL — New Lenox Performing Arts Pavilion
Sun, Aug 16th — Windsor, ON — The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor
Tue, Aug 18th — Fairlee, VT — Lake Morey Resort
Wed, Aug 19th — Sidney, ME — Bowl in the Pines
Fri, Aug 21st — Lewiston, NY — Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater
Sat, Aug 22nd — Freehold, NJ — ParkStage
Sun, Aug 23rd — Wallingford, CT — Toyota Oakdale Theatre
Fri, Aug 28th — Mitchell, SD — Corn Palace Festival
Sat, Aug 29th — Tulsa, OK — Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Sun, Aug 30th — Longview, TX — Belcher Center

One Man Show Dates: 

Tue, Nov 3rd — Nashua, NH — Nashua Center For The Arts
Wed, Nov 4th — Rockport, MA — Shalin Liu Performance Center
Fri, Nov 6th — Cranston, RI — Park Theatre and Event Center
Sat, Nov 7th — Hanover, PA — Eichelberger Performing Arts Center
Sun, Nov 8th — Bethlehem, PA — Zoellner Arts Center, Baker Hall**
Tue, Nov 10th — Lexington, MA — Cary Hall
Wed, Nov 11th — Troy, NY — Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
Fri, Nov 13th — Akron, OH — Goodyear Theater
Sat, Nov 14th — Shipshewana, IN — Blue Gate Performing Arts Center
Sun, Nov 15th — Bloomington, IL — Bloomington Center For the Performing Arts
Tue, Nov 17th — Des Moines, IA — Hoyt Sherman Place
Wed, Nov 18th — Iowa City, IA — The Englert Theatre #Onsale on July 10th
Sat, Nov 28th — Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA — Sunset Center**
Mon, Nov 30th — Palm Desert, CA — McCallum Theatre**
Wed, Dec 2nd — Scottsdale, AZ — Scottsdale Center For The Performing Arts
Fri, Dec 4th — Medford, OR — Craterian Theater at The Collier Center for the Performing Arts
Sat, Dec 5th — Salem, OR — Elsinore Theatre
Sun, Dec 6th — Redding, CA — Cascade Theatre #Onsale on July 1st
Wed, Dec 9th — Boise, ID — The Egyptian Theatre
Fri, Dec 11th — Folsom, CA — Harris Center for the Arts
Sun, Dec 13th — San Luis Obispo, CA — Fremont Theater

**Already on sale
#On sale at a later date

Classic Elvis Costello debut album 'My Aim Is True' to get expanded box set treatment this fall

On October 2, UMe will release My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition), a five-CD box set telling the story of how Declan MacManus became Elvis Costello – and how his debut album, recorded in a small London studio, was the first major career step. 

The collection contains 104 tracks, demos, masters, outtakes, live performances, interviews, and other rare recordings (52 of them previously unreleased), plus a new 2026 remaster of the original album from the original analog tapes (the vinyl original album is all analog).

Each of its five discs – My Aim Is True, The Blue Print, The Stranger In The House, Becoming The Attractions and Covered In Clover (the only live performance of Costello and Clover) – is accompanied by extensive new writing from Costello, alongside rare and unseen photographs, handwritten lyrics from his notebooks and diary entries from 1976, and lists of songs he was performing solo. 

It was produced by Elvis Costello and Steve Berkowitz.

As a preview, Costello has shared a selection of highlights from the box set: “Watching The Detectives” is available to hear as four previously unreleased recordings: the “Pathway Studios Trio Version” (Costello on guitar/vocals, Andrew Bodnar on bass, Steve Goulding on drums), a mix without either the introductory "Spy Guitar" figure or any keyboards added; a solo electric performance from the UK television program Good Afternoon, which aired on September 30, 1977, accompanied by a short excerpt from Costello’s first-ever TV interview; and a live performance with The Attractions from San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on July 8, 1978, alongside the newly remastered 2026 version of the original recording. Stream the tracks HERE.

“When first proposed, I thought the whole idea of celebrating a 50th Anniversary of My Aim Is True was preposterous,” Costello writes at the beginning of the collection. “It made my teeth itch.” He continues: “It couldn’t just be set up like a venerable object in a glass case.”

Instead, My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition) presents the album as the beginning of a still-unfolding story. Its first disc pairs the original album with “Watching The Detectives,” creating a hybrid of the original U.K. and U.S. track listings. Recorded with producer Nick Lowe and the Marin County band Clover during four six-hour sessions at Pathway Studios, the album emerged with little budget, limited overdubbing and Costello singing live on nearly every track.

“Last night I listened to this wonderfully wonky record in its entirety for the first time in about 45 years,” Lowe writes in a new note for the set, recalling Pathway’s unforgettably heady atmosphere of “cigarettes, ill-laundered clothes, exposed electrical units, and urinal disinfectant.” He adds that making the album gave him “the priceless opportunity to observe at close range the extraordinary work of one of the foremost composers of popular song of this or any other era.”

The second disc, The Blue Print, gathers 17 recordings from 1975 and 1976, including 13 previously unreleased. The songs span bedroom tapes, early Pathway recordings and 13 performances from a 1976 session at the Hope & Anchor Studio. Also included is a recording preserved by Costello’s ‘70s contemporary Charlie Dore, who just recently discovered a reel she taped of Costello trying out songs during a blazing London afternoon in 1976. 

“The more I’ve delved into these notebooks, the more I’ve come to the conclusion that these handwritten notes might actually be ‘The Blue Print’ for a lot of the work I did over the next five or six years,” Costello writes.

The Stranger In The House contains 28 demos, outtakes and early band recordings, 15 of which have never been released, including every surviving outtake and demo from My Aim Is True. The disc reaches back to Flip City, the band Costello describes as “Pre-Professional:” “In the so-called Pub Rock scene, we barely qualified as also-rans. We were ready and we were willing, but the bookings were few and our progress was slow.” It also includes more of Ms. Dore’s tapes, and follows the evolution of songs including “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” and “Living In Paradise” through the session that produced “Watching The Detectives.”

Costello’s 72-page liners include commentary and recollections from Nick Lowe, Columbia Records' Gregg Geller, as well as Attractions keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas. 

The fourth disc, Becoming The Attractions, opens with a solo performance of “Alison,” from Elvis Costello’s U.K. television debut to his first live appearances under his new name. Its 25 tracks, 12 previously unreleased, include live recordings, broadcasts and a Nashville Room soundcheck from the summer of 1977. 

Noted music journalist Bill Flanagan chronicles Costello’s arrival in America. Further recollections from Warren Zanes, Rosanne Cash, Peter Wolf (then of the J. Geils Band), and Jim James of My Morning Jacket (a bandmate in the "New Basement Tapes" studio collective) accompany Costello’s account of the first American trip. 

The collection closes with Covered In Clover, an entirely unreleased recording of Costello’s 2007 reunion with Clover at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. Performing My Aim Is True in its original U.K. sequence before concluding with “Watching The Detectives,” Costello and the musicians return to the songs they had recorded together three decades earlier. 

“Making my first record seemed like the beginning of something that I’d imagined for a long time, before I had any sense of a potential audience, let alone the expectation and the assumptions of others about songs written and performed in mere minutes,” Costello writes. “Nevertheless, I raise a chaste glass to My Aim Is True and all who sail in her.”

My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition) will be released October 2 via UMe as a 5-CD/digital box set. The new remaster of the original album will also be released on 180-gram black vinyl and CD. Pre-order all formats HERE.

Track List
** Denotes previously unreleased

CD1: My Aim Is True

1. Welcome To The Working Week - 2026 Remaster
2. Miracle Man - 2026 Remaster
3. No Dancing - 2026 Remaster
4. Blame It On Cain - 2026 Remaster
5. Alison - 2026 Remaster
6. Sneaky Feelings - 2026 Remaster
7. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - 2026 Remaster
8. Less Than Zero - 2026 Remaster
9. Mystery Dance - 2026 Remaster
10. Pay It Back - 2026 Remaster
11. I'm Not Angry - 2026 Remaster
12. Waiting For The End Of The World - 2026 Remaster
13. Watching The Detectives - Single Version

CD2: The Blue Print

1. I Turn Around - Hope & Anchor Studio**
2. Losing You - Hope & Anchor Studio**
3. Leverman - Hope & Anchor Studio**
4. Citizen Junction - Hope & Anchor Studio**
5. I Hear A Melody - Pathway Studios
6. Poison Moon - Bedroom Recording
7. Wave A White Flag - Bedroom Recording
8. Mercury Wings - Ms. Dore’s Tape**
9. Jump Up - Hope & Anchor Studio**
10. No Star - Hope & Anchor Studio**
11. Walk On - Hope & Anchor Studio**
12. Radio Soul - Hope & Anchor Studio**
13. Clean Money - Hope & Anchor Studio**
14. Don’t Put A Levy On My Love - Hope & Anchor Studio**
15. Play It Safe - Hope & Anchor Studio**
16. Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver) - Hope & Anchor Studio**
17. I Can’t Turn It Off - Hope & Anchor Studio

CD3: The Stranger In The House

1. Radio Sweetheart - My Aim Is True Outtake
2. Cheap Reward - Bedroom Recording
3. Mystery Dance - Bedroom Recording
4. Stranger In The House - My Aim Is True Outtake
5. Running Out Of Angels - Hope & Anchor Studio**
6. Just Like A Jukebox - Hope & Anchor Studio**
7. I Don’t Want To Go Home - Pathway Studios
8. Blame It On Cain - Bedroom Recording
9. Blue Minute - Ms. Dore’s Tape**
10. Pay It Back - Bedroom Recording **
11. Exiles Road - Flip City - Hope & Anchor Studio**
12. Knockin' On Heaven’s Door - Flip City - Hope & Anchor Studio**
13. Sweet Revival - Flip City - Hope & Anchor Studio**
14. Pay It Back - Flip City - Hope & Anchor Studio**
15. Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver) - Flip City - Hope & Anchor Studio**
16. Living In Paradise - Hope & Anchor Studio**
17. Welcome To The Working Week - Pathway Studios
18. Miracle Man - Bedroom Recording**
19. Miracle Man - Pathway Studios
20. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Ms. Dore’s Tape**
21. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Pathway Studios
22. Waiting For The End Of The World - Pathway Studios
23. Living In Paradise - My Aim Is True Outtake
24. Call On Me - Pathway Studios
25. Watching The Detectives - Pathway Studios Trio Version**
26. No Action - Pathway Studios Trio Version
27. Poison Moon - Ms. Dore’s Tape**
28. Stranger In The House - Ms. Dore’s Tape**

CD4: Becoming The Attractions

1. Alison - What’s On Granada Reports
2. Introduction By Dave Robinson - Live, The Nashville Room
3. Mystery Dance - Live, The Nashville Room
4. Pay It Back - Soundcheck, The Nashville Room
5. Radio Sweetheart - Soundcheck, The Nashville Room
6. Sneaky Feelings - Soundcheck, The Nashville Room
7. Crawling To The U.S.A. - Soundcheck, The Nashville Room
8. Lip Service - Pathway Studios**
9. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes- with Introduction Top Of The Pops**
10. Interview No. 1 - Good Afternoon with Mavis Nicholson
11. Watching The Detectives - Good Afternoon Broadcast**
12. Interview No. 2 - Good Afternoon with Mavis Nicholson
13. Hoover Factory - Good Afternoon Rehearsal**
14. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - Live Stiffs, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.
15. Whole Wide World - Live Stiffs, University Of Leicester, Leicester, U.K.**
16. KSAN Intro - Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA
17. Pump It Up - Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA**
18. Lip Service - Unknown Field Recording**
19. Mystery Dance - Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA**
20. Blame It On Cain - Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA**
21. Less Than Zero (Dallas Version) - Warner Theater, Washington D.C.
22. Waiting For The End Of The World - The Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, OH**
23. Miracle Man - Warner Theater, Washington D.C.
24. Watching The Detectives - Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA**
25. I’m Not Angry - Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA**

CD5: Covered In Clover

1. Welcome To The Working Week (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
2. Miracle Man (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
3. No Dancing (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
4. Intro To Blame It On Cain (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
5. Blame It On Cain (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
6. Alison (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
7. Intro To Sneaky Feelings (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
8. Sneaky Feelings (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
9. Intro To Red Shoes (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
10. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
11. Less Than Zero (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
12. Mystery Dance (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
13. Pay It Back (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
14. I'm Not Angry (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
15. Waiting For The End Of The World / Gloria (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
16. Watching The Detectives (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
17. Mr. Moon (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
18. Intro To The Love Trilogy (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
19. Love Has No Pride (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
20. Love Is Gone (Live - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA - November 8, 2007)**
21. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (Live - Great American Music H

Tour Dates - Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton

Aug 8, 2026 - Old Whaling Church - Edgartown, MA
Sep 10, 2026 - American Music Theatre - Lancaster, PA
Sep 12, 2026 - OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino - Niagara Falls, Canada
Sep 13, 2026 - Agora Theatre - Cleveland, OH
Sep 15, 2026 - Packard Music Hall - Warren, OH
Sep 16, 2026 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak, MI
Sep 18, 2026 – Frauenthal Theater - Muskegon, MI
Sep 20, 2026 - Riot Fest 2026 - Douglass Park - Chicago, IL
Sep 24, 2026 - Botti at Sea III - Victoria, Canada

Imperial Teen's 'All Over You' album, long awaited tour dates set for October

More than three decades after forming in San Francisco, Imperial Teen returns with All Over You, its first studio album since 2019. 

Out October 9 on Merge Records (pre-order), the lead single “Overdrive,” is available now, alongside its official music video. It was written during a late-session burst of inspiration in Provincetown.

The indie pop/alternative band has also announced their first run of tour dates since 2020. They will join The Breeders at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre on August 22-23, followed by a run of headline shows in October spanning both coasts. Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

Each Imperial Teen record reflects what Roddy Bottum (guitars, keyboards, vocals) calls “an episodic piece of where we are now.” Bottum, Will Schwartz (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jone Stebbins (bass, vocals), and Lynn Truell (drums, vocals) live in different cities, but did periodic writing retreats followed by scattered recording sessions.

“For the last few records, the process has been similar. We live great distances away from each other, so initially, we get together to collaborate, write, and create. When we have enough material, we reconvene to record. Both scenarios, creating and recording, take multiple trips, sometimes with big lapses of time in between due to our various schedules.”

“Overdrive” came together in a single final take before Schwartz caught a ferry, its vocal captured in what Bottum - also a core member of Faith No More and author - recalls as a “magical” last-minute session. The title track was initially built over a computer, with Truell's letting out in a scream. “In my head,” Truell says, “I just went back to punk, to that feeling of prowling around looking for anything to do and being so mad about how boring everything is that you just have to yell.” 

Lyrically, All Over You spans desire, disconnection, and the realities of making art under capitalism. “We want to make people dance and think and feel at the same time,” says Schwartz.

Track List:

1. Overdrive
2. Hands All Up
3. All Over You
4. A Single Chair
5. Get You Home
6. On the Island
7. Kiss It Goodbye
8. Probably So
9. Have a Shout
10. Bringing It Down

Tour Dates:

08.22 - San Francisco, CA @ The Castro Theatre *
08.23 - San Francisco, CA @ The Castro Theatre *
10.14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon +
10.15 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill +
10.17 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza +
10.18 - Portland, OR @ Swan Dive +
11.03 - Boston, MA @ The Lilypad
11.04 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right
11.05 - Philadelphia, PA @ Nikki Lopez
11.07 - Durham, NC @ The Pinhook

* w/ The Breeders [SOLD OUT]
+ w/ Kids on a Crime Spree

Queen live in Budapest '86 headed to IMAX and multiple audiovisual formats this October

Sony Music Vision announced that QUEEN BUDAPEST, the final filmed Queen live performance with Freddie Mercury, will be presented in cinemas and IMAX worldwide beginning October 7 through Trafalgar Releasing.

Filmed on July 27, 1986, at Budapest’s Népstadion, during the band’s ‘The Magic Tour,’ the concert has been restored in 4K from the original filmed 35mm footage by Sir Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production facility in New Zealand, with newly remixed audio from the original multitrack recordings. 

The show was professionally filmed on 35mm movie film by 17 cameras. The Hungarian government approved the entire operation, which was a first for a Communist State. An edited version of the show was broadcast in December 1986 throughout the Communist Bloc, including China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Yugoslavia and Mongolia, as well as to 59 Hungarian cinemas on New Year’s Day 1987, a first for a Western rock act.

For Queen’s Brian May & Roger Taylor, the show in Budapest wasn’t just another date on what was a huge tour for the band, it held much deeper meaning.

Brian May: “For years, fans behind the Iron Curtain had been able to listen to Queen music only on illegal cassettes. It was a forbidden thing to listen to rock bands like us, so to see them play in a live show would have been unthinkable. This concert, when they could finally come and see us live in person and interact with us, was a huge emotional moment for them and also for us. It felt like a very big deal – you could feel that incredible energy. There will never be an event quite like that again. Perhaps the most memorable highlight of all was performing that beautiful Hungarian folk song, which Freddie and I had learned for the occasion. Not a dry eye!”

Roger Taylor: “We did love to think that the music could transcend the politics, the political barriers, and that was sort of part of our ethos, to actually bring the audience into the show and make them feel part of the show. I know Freddie tried to learn this folk song, but he had the words written phonetically on the back of his hand. When the audience just started singing, we realized, wow, music really can be a great cause.”

Brian May, “Peter Jackson’s team have done a magnificent job of restoring the original film footage, at the highest resolution ever; it's pristine and the quality is breathtaking. I think you’re going to love it. For the sound, we’ve been able to do some top-quality restoration work as well. Now, in IMAX and movie theatres, it’s going to be definitively the most real experience ever of us, Queen, in our glory days. I think people will get lost in it and even forget they're watching a film.”

The 4K restoration of QUEEN BUDAPEST will have its world premiere at the Budapest Classics Film Marathon on September 15, hosted by the National Film Institute of Hungary, as part of the festival’s program celebrating restored and rediscovered cinema. A UK premiere will take place in London on September 30, with further details to follow. The 4K digitization of the original negatives was carried out by the National Film Institute (NFI), Hungary's FilmLab in Budapest. The original elements of the film were preserved by NFI Film Archive in Budapest since 1986.

QUEEN BUDAPEST will be released globally in cinemas and IMAX from October 7 for a limited time only, in partnership with Trafalgar Releasing. Tickets will be on sale later this summer. Fans are encouraged to sign up at the official website at QueenBudapest.com for further information and to be alerted when pre-sale tickets are available. 

QUEEN BUDAPEST will be accompanied by a multi-format package via Hollywood Records in North America and Legacy Recordings, the catalogue division of Sony Music, internationally on October 30. The soundtrack, newly remixed from the original multitrack by Queen’s studio team, will be released alongside the Blu-Ray, DVD, CD & Digital editions as a 3LP vinyl set for the very first time.

QUEEN BUDAPEST is directed by János Zsombolyai.

Photo courtesy Sony Music/Hollywood Records

Out now: The Waterboys’ Atlantic Rain - The Lost ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ Recordings

Back in the mid-Eighties, The Waterboys were familiar to college and alternative radio listeners, thanks to minor hit “A Girl Called Johnny” and especially, “The Whole of the Moon” (a top 30 single in several countries).

When the time came to make what would become the band’s fourth and most successful studio album Fisherman’s Blues, singer/guitarist/leader Mike Scott had moved to the Emerald Isle and gravitated toward that country's traditional sonic influences as well as that of his native Scotland.  

Recording sessions took place at various points during 1986-88, resulting in nearly 400 multi-track music reels. Some ran at half-speed in order to pack more music onto the tapes without having to change them. A good percentage of those reels had no song titles on them, only vague descriptions.

Scott pored through the mysterious tapes in 2024-25 and discovered many release worthy, forgotten performances, including never before heard songs like “Endless Store,” “Light Shine on Me,” “Come Back to Galway,” “Man with the Wind at His Heels,” and covers by Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Willie Nelson and others (Side note: astute Waterboys followers will recall there was a six-disc Fisherman’s Box, released in 2013).  

Atlantic Rain - The Lost Fisherman’s Blues Recordings is a frequently rousing 25-track collection that will prove eye-opening for longtime fans. The unreleased studio takes, soundchecks, jam sessions and more are available in 3CD, 3LP and digital formats. The package includes a 54-page deluxe book with notes and track by track by Mike Scott. 

Especially noteworthy is a new remix and lyric video for “We Will Not Be Lovers” (part of the actual Fisherman’s Blues release) – heard in the 2026 Netflix horror series, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. A companion lyric video was released: watch HERE. 

Among the standouts: the upbeat stomper “Too Close To Heaven,” with Anthony Thistlethwaite’s jaunty sax work and some falsetto vocal bits from Scott; a loping, nearly nine-minute-long “Come Back To Galway”; Steve Wickham’s dramatic violins on the uplifting “The Man with the Wind at His Heels”; a poppier “Light Shine On Me”; the feisty take on Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin’” and piano ballad cover of The Rolling Stones’ “No Expectations.”

The band also does its versions of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” (containing reverb-laden vocals, electric piano and an intense violin solo) and a nearly unrecognizable run-through of The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.” 

Impressively, Jay Dee Daugherty (Patti Smith) and the legendary Jim Keltner provide drums here and there, while a pre-fame Liam O’Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers also adds rollicking piano to the Williams’ popularized “Lost Highway.”

If you want to read about The Waterboys’ most recent studio album, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper, go to newwavegeo.blogspot.com.

mikescottwaterboys.com/

Graham Coxon of Blur continues solo catalog reissues

Following his previously unreleased solo album Castle Park, Trangressive Records announced the second drop in a comprehensive reissue of Graham Coxon’s complete solo catalogue, spanning 9 studio albums and 3 original soundtracks.

The three albums will be available on CD, black vinyl and limited edition coloured vinyl, exclusive to independent record shops and Graham’s store: Crow Sit on Blood Tree (2001) on blood red and black splatter double LP; The Kiss of Morning (2002) on turquoise double LP; and Happiness In Magazines (2004) on deep blue vinyl. Listen and pre-order HERE.

September 11 will see the digital release of 14-track live album Live At The Zodiac, available in its entirety for the first time on DSPs, along with a full performance video for each track, taken from the original concert DVD. Live At The Zodiac captures Coxon’s solo show at the iconic Oxford venue (now the O2 Academy), recorded on 3rd June, 2004, with the concert DVD released in March 2005. Watch the video for the track ‘Bittersweet Bundle of Misery’ HERE.

Originally released in 2001, Crow Sit On Blood Tree is Graham’s third solo album. “There’s absolute mayhem on that at times, but there’s quiet songs, too,” Graham says of Crow Sit On Blood Tree, which was recorded, mixed and mastered in just two weeks. “I was still exploring different music and what I could do. I’ll turn my hand to so many different types of music if it feels natural.”

Arriving in October 2002, The Kiss Of The Morning is less of a DIY affair than its predecessors; pedal steel player B.J. Cole and Louis Vause on keyboards helped to fully flesh it out. 

Speaking about The Kiss Of Morning, Graham said - “I felt free to do whatever I wanted to do. I was expanding my sound and also finding a bit more calm in my songs.”

Happiness In Magazines is Coxon’s fifth solo studio album. Recorded with producer Stephen Street, it was his most successful solo record up to that point, going top 20 in the UK and earning him the Best Solo Artist prize at the 2005 NME Awards. 

“Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery’ and ‘Freakin’ Out’ were two of the first things I wrote,” recalls Graham. “I remember thinking, Oh, actually, maybe my songwriting is getting a bit better? Maybe I should take this seriously and not be such a control freak? Stephen just got it. He loved what I was getting at, the sound of it and the era it was influenced by – things like The Cars and The Jam.”

With his back catalogue long sold out and in high demand on physical formats, the release of Castle Park in June kicked off the comprehensive reissue of Coxon’s expansive solo catalogue and comes alongside the re-release of The Sky is Too High and The Golden D, available now.

Further drops to come include the studio albums Love Travels at Illegal Speeds (2006), The Spinning Top (2009), A+E (2012); as well as the two Original Songs and Score album soundtracks for The End of The F***ing World 1 (2018) and The End of The F***ing World 2 (2019); plus Superstate (2021), the original soundtrack released to accompany the graphic novel of the same name.

FORMATS:

Crow Sit On Blood Tree (2001): Available from 11th September on CD, LP double black vinyl; and LP double blood red & black splatter vinyl, exclusive to independent record stores and the Graham Coxon store. 

The Kiss Of Morning (2002): Available from 11th September on CD; LP double black vinyl; and LP double turquoise vinyl, exclusive to independent record stores and the Graham Coxon store. 

Happiness In Magazines (2004): Available from 11th September on CD; LP black vinyl; and limited edition LP deep blue vinyl, exclusive to independent record stores and the Graham Coxon store, from 11th September. 

Live At The Zodiac (2004): Available from 11th September on DSPs for the first time as a full album. Plus a full video album, a live performance of each track, mirroring the original DVD concert film release. Pre-save HERE.

TRACK LISTINGS:

Crow Sit On Blood Tree

1. Empty Word
2. I'm Going Away
3. All Has Gone
4. Burn It Down
5. Too Uptight
6. Big Bird
7. Tired
8. Hurt Prone
9. Bonfires
10. Thank God for the Rain
11. You Never Will Be
12. A Place for Grief

The Kiss Of Morning

1. Bitter Tears
2. Escape Song
3. Locked Doors
4. Baby, You're out of My Mind
5. It Ain't No Lie
6. Live Line
7. Just Be Mine
8. Do What You're Told To
9. Mountain of Regret
10. Latte
11. Walking Down the Highway
12. Song for the Sick

Happiness In Magazines

1. Spectacular
2. No Good Time
3. Girl Done Gone
4. Bittersweet Bundle of Misery
5. All over Me
6. Freakin' Out
7. People of the Earth
8. Hopeless Friend
9. Are You Ready?
10. Bottom Bunk
11. Don't Be a Stranger
12. Ribbons and Leaves

Live At The Zodiac

1. Escape Song (Live At The Zodiac)
2. Spectacular (Live At The Zodiac)
3. No Good Time (Live At The Zodiac)
4. I Wish (Live At The Zodiac)
5. That’s All I Wanna Do (Live At The Zodiac)
6. Bottom Bunk (Live At The Zodiac)
7. Bittersweet Bundle of Misery (Live At The Zodiac)
8. Girl Done Gone (Live At The Zodiac)
9. All Over Me (Live At The Zodiac)
10. Bitter Tears (Live At The Zodiac)
11. People of The Earth (Live At The Zodiac)
12. All I Wanna Do Iz Listen To Yuz (Live At The Zodiac)
13. Freakin’ Out (Live At The Zodiac)
14. Who The Fuck? (Live At The Zodiac)

About Castle Park:

Produced by Ben Hillier (blur - Think Tank), Castle Park was recorded in 2011 as part of the A+E (2012) sessions. Originally intended as a follow up to A+E, the release was postponed due to blur activity in 2012, before Coxon moved on to other projects. Castle Park is a collection of 10 songs that lean into the artist’s classic mod sound, with lead single ‘Billy Says’ - a longtime feature of Coxon’s live set - already familiar to fans and now finally available for the first time. Listen to Castle Park HERE.

ABOUT GRAHAM COXON:

An English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist, Graham Coxon is best known as being a founding member of blur. Coxon has also released eight solo albums and frequently composes for film and TV. 

Coxon’s work as a solo artist includes the studio albums The Sky Is Too High (1998), The Golden D (2000), Crow Sit on Blood Tree (2001), The Kiss of Morning (2002), Happiness in Magazines (2004), Love Travels at Illegal Speeds (2006), The Spinning Top (2009) and A+E (2012). His work as a composer include the original songs and score for The End of the F***ing World (2018), The End of the F***ing World 2 (2019), I Am Not Okay with This (2020), and Superstate (2021) released in association with Z2 Comics.

He has collaborated with numerous other artists including Paul Weller on the single ‘This Old Town’ and Pete Doherty on his 2009 album Grace/Wastelands. In 2017 Coxon (along with Damon Albarn) appeared on Ratboy's debut album, Scum, and the same year he recorded the song ‘Falling’ which was released as a fundraiser for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). The artist also contributed to several songs on Duran Duran's Future Past album. 

More recently, he recorded a new song titled ‘Parasite’ with English Teacher for the 2026 album HELP(2), in support of War Child, as well as providing guitar for Olivia Rodrigo’s take on The Magnetic Fields song ‘The Book of Love’ on the same album.

The eponymous debut album from The WAEVE - composed of Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall – was released in 2023. The band’s second studio album City Lights was released in 2024.

Richard Thompson sings about 'Hippies, Thugs and Heroes in October

Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, Richard Thompson's 20th studio album, is due on October 16 via New West Records. 

As he finished recording, Thompson says about the songs and their desperate characters: “You look over the body of songs you’ve written and ask yourself, 'Which ones are kindred spirits?' You look for commonality among the songs, and it’s also a joy when you realize that certain songs seem to be brothers and sisters..”

The first single, “Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking,” is a tale of folks hustling in London—a “carousel queen” overwhelmed by the big city, a soldier quoting Shakespeare, “a Kings Road Hippie,” and a “Sauchiehill thug.” Hear it HERE.

Thompson wrote and demoed songs for his backing band, which includes Taras Prodaniuk on bass, Michael Jerome on drums, David Mansfield on guitar and fiddle, and his wife Zara Phillips on backing vocals. His home recordings were much more elaborate, much more specific for the new album. 

“It’s so much fun to mess around at home and disappear down in the basement for hours at a time. I even bought myself a drumkit. So I was able to present more complete demos to the band. You could say there’s much more of my identity being transferred to the final product.” 

As always, he left room for the band to add their own ideas, but admits Hippies, Thugs and Heroes is “less them and more me. But I’m never strict about what I want to hear on a record. I’m always interested to see what they come up with, and I always want to see where a song takes me.” 

Thompson and the band convened at Hobosound Studio in Weehawken, New Jersey, located a stone’s throw from his own home. “I think this is why this album came together so quickly. We could just steam through at high speed and not labor over everything.” The small crew recorded live with a minimum of takes—sometimes as few as two, but rarely more than four.” 

Hippies, Thugs and Heroes will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited clear with black splatter color vinyl edition with an autographed insert as well as a limited CD edition autographed by Richard Thompson will be available at Independent Retailers. A limited pink marbled color vinyl edition including a bonus flexi-disc featuring a demo recording of “Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking,” and an autographed insert will be available via Rough Trade. A limited yellow with black splatter color vinyl edition including an autographed insert as well as a limited & autographed compact disc edition is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.

Track Listing:

1. Sorcerer’s Apprentice
2. Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking
3. Pauper’s Grave
4. Unsung Hero
5. Make Believe You Don’t Know Me
6. She Burns It All
7. Everybody’s Stealing
8. The Soul In Me
9. Pipe Dreams
10. The Big Smoke
11. Stringer
12. Siren

RichardThompson-Music.com
NewWestRecords.com