The Waterboys share haunting new single ‘Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend’, featuring Fiona Apple

The Waterboys have released their new single, the haunting ‘Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend’, with vocals from Fiona Apple – listen below.

It is the latest tease of the folk-rock group’s 16th studio album ‘Life, Death And Dennis Hopper’, which is due out on April 4 via Sun Records. The record’s intention is to tell the story of the titular actor through a song cycle that reflects the last 75 years of Western pop culture.

The band released the lead single ‘Hopper’s On Top (Genius)’ in January, and now they have followed it up with the dark defiance of ‘Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend’.

Written by frontman Mike Scott, it sees Apple singing: “I used to say no man would ever strike me / And no man ever did, ‘til I met you / Sweet you, yeah you had the charm, charm enough to sweep me / Took me in your arms, swore you’d satisfy and keep me / Too late I knew that it was all and only about you”.

Watch the full lyric video here:

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Speaking about the album’s relation to Hopper, Scott has said: “The arc of his life was the story of our times. He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol.”

“He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild 10-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”

The 25-track record will also include features from Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s.

The Waterboys are also heading out on tour around the UK, starting in Basingstoke on May 1 and continuing on to Bath, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester and other locations throughout the month.

The tour will conclude with a performance at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London on May 31. Visit here to purchase tickets and check out a full list of dates here.

The Waterboys released their latest album ‘All Souls Hill’ in 2022. In 2023, the band dropped a box set titled ‘1985’, which tells the story of the making of their landmark third record ‘This Is the Sea’. Last March, former Waterboys member Karl Wallinger died at the age of 66.

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