Joe Jackson has announced his new album ‘Hope and Fury’, arriving April 10th on CD and 180g vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. The GRAMMY-winning artist will embark on a major world tour supporting the release, performing more than 80 shows across 14 countries from May to December. Jackson laid the groundwork for the album at Michael Tibes’ Fuzz Songs Full of Contrast, Humour and Heart Factory studio in Berlin before returning to New York’s Reservoir Studios with co-producer Patrick Dillett and his on-and-off band since 2016: “bassist for life” Graham Maby, guitarist Teddy Kumpel, and drummer Doug Yowell, augmented by Peruvian percussionist Paulo Stagnaro.
The nine-track album overflows with clever and original lyrics and funky grooves, led by Jackson’s vocals and keyboard playing. In keeping with the title, an ironic twist on ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, this is a more English Joe Jackson than we’ve seen for quite a while, with some songs suggesting a love/hate relationship with his homeland. Opening track “Welcome to Burning-By-Sea” describes a fictional seaside town inspired by Brighton and Jackson’s hometown of Portsmouth, contrasting a slice of British working-class life in 1922 with a post-pandemic version in 2022. The album offers biting sarcasm in “I’m Not Sorry,” playful mockery in “Fabulous People,” and pure silliness in “Do Do Do.” In “The Face,” an Everyman character finds himself lost in an angry and polarized political climate: “Not one of the Great Unwashed” but “One of the Great Overwhelmed.”
Two songs arrive in Jackson’s oft-cited bittersweet melodic mode: “Made God Laugh” expresses a kind of happy, grown-up fatalism about life in general, while “After All This Time” takes a similar approach to a long-term relationship. The album follows Jackson tradition by ending with slow ballad “See You In September.” Though often depicted as a chameleonic artist who constantly changes his style, Jackson insists that most of his albums are in “his own mainstream,” collections of sophisticated pop songs using different kinds of rhythms and combinations of instruments. As he said in a recent interview for the U.K.’s Chap magazine, “I always knew I was in this music thing for life. So every now and again I’m going to do something different, to keep it interesting.”
North American Tour Dates:
May 11 – Poughkeepsie, NY – Bardavon 1869 Opera House
May 13 – Montreal, QC – Place Des Arts – Théâtre Maisonneuve
May 14 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
May 16 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Theatre
May 17 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral
May 19-20 – Chicago, IL – Park West
May 22 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre
May 23 – Minneapolis, MN – Pantages Theatre
May 27 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue
May 28 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
May 30 – San Francisco, CA – Curran Theatre
May 31 – San Diego, CA – Balboa Theatre
June 2 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre
June 3 – Tucson, AZ – Fox Theatre
June 5 – Albuquerque, NM – Kimo Theatre
June 6 – Boulder, CO – Chautauqua Auditorium
June 9 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
June 10 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
June 12 – Omaha, NE – Admiral
June 14 – Austin, TX – The Paramount Theatre
June 16 – Houston, TX – Heights Theatre
June 17 – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre
June 19 – San Antonio, TX – Empire Theatre
June 21 – New Orleans, LA – The Joy Theatre
June 24 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
June 26 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
June 27 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theatre
June 29 – Orlando, FL – Steinmetz Hall @ Dr. Phillips Center
July 1 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – The Parker
July 2 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre
July 7 – Washington, DC – Lincoln Theatre
July 8 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre
July 10 – Providence, RI – Uptown Theater
July 11 – Portland, ME – State Theatre
July 14 – Medford, MA – Chevalier Theatre
July 15 – Stamford, CT – Palace Theatre
July 17 – Philadelphia, PA – The Lansdowne Theater
July 18 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
European Tour Dates:
September 24 – Cork, Ireland – Cork City Hall
September 27 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Olympia Theatre
September 29 – Bristol, UK – Beacon
October 1 – Cambridge, UK – Corn Exchange
October 2 – Bournemouth, UK – Pavilion Theatre
October 4 – London, UK – Palladium
October 5 – Liverpool, UK – Philharmonic Hall
October 7 – York, UK – Barbican
October 9 – Glasgow, UK – Saint Luke’s
October 12 – Paris, France – L’Olympia
October 13 – Lyon, France – Le Radiant-Bellevue
October 14 – Toulouse, France – Théâtre du Casino Barrière
October 17 – Porto, Portugal – Casa da Musica
October 18 – Lisbon, Portugal – Aula Magna
October 20 – Madrid, Spain – Teatro La Latina
October 21 – Valencia, Spain – Teatro La Rambleta
October 23 – Barcelona, Spain – Paral·lel 62
October 25 – Bordeaux, France – Théâtre Femina
October 27 – Lille, France – Théâtre Sebastopol
October 28 – Stuttgart, Germany – Liederhalle/Hegelsaal
October 31 – Bremen, Germany – Metropol Theater
November 1 – Munich, Germany – Circus Krone
November 2 – Berlin, Germany – Admiralspalast
November 4 – Essen, Germany – Lichtburg
November 5 – Hamburg, Germany – Fabrik
November 7 – Darmstadt, Germany – Staatstheater
November 9 – Zürich, Switzerland – Kaufleuten
November 11 – Bologna, Italy – Teatro Duse
November 12 – Rome, Italy – Auditorium Parco Della Musica (Sala Sinopoli)
November 14 – Milan, Italy – Teatro Lirico
November 16 – Vienna, Austria – Globe
November 17 – Cologne, Germany – Gloria
November 18 – Luxembourg – den Atelier
November 20 – Antwerp, Belgium – De Roma
November 21 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
November 24 – Ghent, Belgium – Vooruit
November 26 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – Nieuwe Luxor
November 28 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Muziekgebouw
November 29 – Groningen, Netherlands – De Oosterport
December 1 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Royal Theatre Carré