NEW STUDIO ALBUM FOOL HITS TOP 20 IN 4 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES* AND
#25 ON US BILLBOARD’S “TOP ALBUMS” CHART
(*Germany #11, Netherlands #13, Belgium #15, Switzerland #16)
Fool is Now Available at Retail Stores, Online Digital Retailers and All Major Streaming Services
“For his 40th anniversary, new wave icon Joe Jackson surprises with the grand ‘Fool’ on which he takes a melancholic look at the world and his own role.” – Focus (Germany)
“Blessed as Fool is with a lush, cohesion-aiding production, fans of Jackson’s rockier output would be fools not to check this out.” –Entertainment Weekly (USA)
“His 20th studio LP explores comedy, tragedy, alienation, loss, friendship, laughter.” – Mojo (UK)
Hamburg – Thursday, February 14, 2019 – On the heels of an electrifying performance of his latest single “Fabulously Absolute” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (Jan. 21, 2019), legendary songwriter Joe Jackson announces today an additional run of 13 concerts in June and July 2019 following his highly anticipated soon to be sold-out spring tour (tour dates are listed below). Jackson tours in support of his critically acclaimed new studio album, Fool, which was released by earMUSIC on January 18, 2019. The record, which is the 20th studio album of Jackson’s career, was the fulfilment of a career-long dream: to finish a tour and head straight into the studio with the band firing on all cylinders. So, on July 29th, Joe wrapped up his 2018 summer US tour at The Egyptian Theater in Boise, Idaho – and the following day set up shop at Tonic Room Studios in town.
When asked to reflect on the recording Jackson had this to offer:
“When it looked like I’d be recording in late July and mixing around my birthday, in August, it struck me that the only other occasion that had happened was while making my first album. It still took a while for it to sink in: this would be 40 years on… The road to this album is littered with the wrecks of songs and half-songs that didn’t make the grade. There are eight survivors, which I think is enough. How significant the resurgence of vinyl is, I’m not sure, but I did think of this as an album, with two complementary sides of about 20 minutes each…
I never have an overall theme in mind when I start trying to write songs for an album, but sometimes one will develop. In this case it’s Comedy and Tragedy, and the way they’re intertwined in all our lives. The songs are about fear and anger and alienation and loss, but also about the things that still make life worth living: friendship, laughter, and music, or art, itself. I couldn’t have done this in 1979. I just hadn’t lived enough.”
The album was co-produced by Jackson and producer Pat Dillett (David Byrne, Sufjan Stevens, Glen Hansard, etc.) The band in question was the same group that Jackson has played live with ever since the release of Fast Forward: Teddy Kumpel on guitar, Doug Yowell on drums, and long-time collaborator Graham Maby on bass (Maby was on that first recording session 40 years ago as well). The Fast Forward Tour took on a life of its own and enjoyed several encores over the last three years – with the band ultimately playing 103 shows together during that time span.
Jackson and the band just last week started their world tour, playing shows throughout the US and Europe.
In his own words: “So, here comes a big tour. We want to celebrate the fact that this is happening after 40 years – anything else, would be like sulking in a room by yourself on your own birthday party. Looking for some way to organize a show out of 40 years’ worth of material, I decided to draw on five albums, each representing a decade: Look Sharp (1979) Night And Day (1982) Laughter And Lust (1991) Rain (2008) and Fool (2019). We’ll also throw in a couple of songs from other albums and some new covers. I can’t wait. Let’s party.”
Tickets and a full list of tour dates can be found at JoeJackson.com. The Summer EU headline dates go on-sale this Friday, Feb 15th at 10am local time.
Fool is now available as a CD Digipak, 1LP+download and Digital download via earMUSIC, as well as on all major streaming services.
To view two intimate live videos featuring Joe Jackson performing his new songs “Fabulously Absolute” and “Strange Land,” please visit earMUSIC’s official YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/Bnc1EasHvZg and https://youtu.be/Px1dqzlQkcI. A song stream video for “Friend Better” can be found at https://youtu.be/uVEOnp-T0wU.
TRACK LIST
1. Big Black Cloud
2. Fabulously Absolute
3. Dave
4. Strange Land
5. Friend Better
6. Fool
7. 32 Kisses
8. Alchemy
*********************
JOE JACKSON: FOUR DECADE TOUR – 2019
Feb 5 / Bijou Theatre / Knoxville, TN
Feb 7 / Center Stage / Atlanta, GA / SOLDOUT
Feb 9 / Lincoln Theatre / Washington, DC / SOLDOUT
Feb 10 / The National / Richmond, VA / SOLDOUT
Feb 12 / Scottish Rite Auditorium / Collingswood, NJ / SOLDOUT
Feb 13 / Shubert Theatre / Boston, MA / SOLDOUT
Feb 15 / Town Hall / New York, NY / SOLDOUT
Feb 16 / Town Hall / New York, NY / SOLDOUT
Feb 18 / Danforth Music Hall / Toronto, ON / SOLDOUT
Feb 21 / Thalia Hall / Chicago, IL / SOLDOUT
Feb 22 / Thalia Hall / Chicago, IL / SOLDOUT
Feb 24 / Paramount Theatre / Denver, CO
Feb 27 / Aladdin Theater / Portland, OR / SOLDOUT
Feb 28 / Neptune Theatre / Seattle, WA / SOLDOUT
March 2 / The Masonic / San Francisco, CA
March 3 / Crest Theatre / Sacramento, CA / SOLDOUT
March 6 / Balboa Theatre / San Diego, CA / SOLDOUT
March 8 / Orpheum Theatre / Los Angeles, CA
March 9 / Orpheum Theater / Phoenix, AZ
March 16 / De Roma / Antwerp, Belgium / SOLDOUT
March 17 / De Oosterpoort / Groningen, The Netherlands / SOLDOUT
March 19 / Auditorium della Conciliazione / Rome, Italy
March 21 / Teatro Auditorium Manzoni / Bologna, Italy
March 22 / Teatro Dal Verme / Milan, Italy
March 23 / Teatro Colosseo / Torino, Italy
March 25 / Kaufleuten / Zurich, Switzerland
March 28 / Admiralspalast / Berlin, Germany
March 29 / Fabrik / Hamburg, Germany / SOLDOUT
March 31 / Liederhalle / Stuttgart, Germany / SOLDOUT
April 1 / Muffathalle / Munich, Germany
April 3 / Gloria / Cologne, Germany / SOLDOUT
April 4 / Tivolivredenburg / Utrecht / SOLDOUT
April 5 / La Laiterie / Strasbourg , France / SOLDOUT
April 7 / Paradiso / Amsterdam, The Netherlands / SOLDOUT
April 8 / Paradiso / Amsterdam, The Netherlands / SOLDOUT
April 10 / Muziekcentrum / Enschede, The Netherlands / SOLDOUT
April 11 / Concertgebouw De Vereeniging / Nijmegen, The Netherlands / SOLDOUT
April 14 / Olympia / Paris, France / SOLDOUT
April 15 / Ancienne Belgique / Brussels, Belgium / SOLDOUT
April 17 / Palladium / London, UK / SOLDOUT
April 18 / O2 Birmingham Institute / Birmingham, UK
April 19 / City Halls / Glasgow, UK / SOLDOUT
April 21 / O2 Ritz / Manchester, UK
April 23 / Cork Opera House / Cork, Ireland
April 24 / Olympia Theatre / Dublin, Ireland
July 12 / North Sea Jazz Festival / Rotterdam, NL
May 4 / Southern Theatre / Columbus, OH
May 6 / Pabst Theatre / Milwaukee, WI
May 7 / Michigan Theater / Ann Arbor, MI
May 9 / Place des Arts / Montreal, QC
May 10 / Centrepointe Theatre/ Ottawa
May 12 / Palais Montcalm / Québec
May 14 / State Theatre / Portland, ME
May 15 / Academy of Music / Northampton, MA
May 17 / Palace Theatre / Syracuse, NY
May 18 / State Theatre / New Brunswick, NJ
May 21 / Florida Theatre / Jacksonville, FL
May 22 / The Plaza Live / Orlando, FL
May 24 / Olympia Theater @ Gusman Center/ Miami, FL
May 25 / Tampa Theatre / Tampa, FL
May 28 / Civic Theatre / New Orleans, LA
May 29 / Wortham Center Cullen Theater / Houston, TX
May 31 / Paramount Theatre / Austin, TX
June 1 / Majestic Theater / Dallas, TX
JUST ANNOUNCED! *
June 23 / Serenadenhof / Nurnberg, Germany
June 25 / Burg Wilhelmstein / Wurselen, Germany
June 26 / Lichtburg / Essen, Germany
June 27 / Theater am Aegi / Hannover, Germany
June 29 / Tollhaus / Karlsruhe, Germany
July 2 / La Cigale / Paris, France
July 4 / Le Bikini / Toulouse, France
July 5 / Transbordeur / Lyon, France
July 6 / Cactus Festival / Bruges, France
July 11 / Alter Schlacthof / Dresden, Germany
July 12 / North Sea Jazz Festival / Rotterdam, The Netherlands
July 14 / Bospop Festival / Weert, The Netherlands
July 17 / Stimmen Festival / Lörrach, Germany
* Further European summer tour dates to be announced shortly.