The Waterboys have long since become an elastic vehicle for whatever Mike Scott wants to pursue. The Celtic sweep of Fisherman's Blues and This Is the Sea is only one part of that history; 2017's Out of All This Blue had already moved toward neo-soul, programmed beats and contemporary production. Where the Action Is tries to combine some of those newer techniques with Scott's older instincts for rock, folk and soul.
The combination is strongest when the production serves a clearly defined song. The title track is driven by overdriven guitar and organ, "In My Time on Earth" has the haunted character of a Dylan ballad, and "Out of All This Blue" uses gospel backing vocals to give its soul arrangement unexpected depth. Best of all is "London Mick," Scott's affectionate portrait of Mick Jones of The Clash and the friendship that developed after Scott first encountered him as a young admirer. Musically it owes more to American classic rock than punk, but the warmth of the lyric carries it.
The record becomes much less persuasive when Scott tries to force contemporary gestures into material that does not need them. "Take Me There I Will Follow You" adopts a dated rap-inflected approach that works against some otherwise clever writing, while "Then There's Love" and "Then She Made the Lasses O" never gather enough melodic force to justify the album's later stretch.
The nine-minute "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is the clearest example of the problem. Its jazzier instrumentation is attractive, but Scott's recitation remains too static for the piece's length. What might have worked as a compact atmospheric coda instead becomes an indulgent ending to an album that was already losing momentum.
Where the Action Is therefore contains one very good shorter record inside a merely decent longer one. Its strongest songs show that Scott can absorb new production ideas without losing the melodic instinct behind "The Big Music"; its weaker songs suggest that stylistic curiosity still needs editing.
GENRE: Pop/Rock
RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2019
PRODUCED BY: Puck Fingers & Brother Paul, with Simon Dine on "Then She Made the Lasses O"
LABEL: Cooking Vinyl
RATING: 6/10