New Waterboys album to feature Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple

The Waterboys founder and frontman Mike Scott has said that that the band's next record will be a concept album dedicated to the life of actor Dennis Hopper, and will feature appearances from Fiona Apple and Bruce Springsteen.

As initially reported by Rolling Stone, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper is set to arrive on April 4, 2025, marking the legendary folk-rock band's first LP of original material since 2022's All Souls Hill.

The upcoming project has been described as "song cycle", comprising twenty five songs detailing the Kansas-born actor's life story and his involvement with important developments of Western culture. Lead single, titled 'Hopper’s On Top (Genius),' is set to be released on January 10.

“The arc of his life was the story of our times,” Scott said in a statement. “[Hopper] 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.

“It begins in his childhood, ends the morning after his death, and I get to say a whole lot along the way, not just about Dennis, but about the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet Earth."

The veteran folk act have paid tribute to cult cinema legend in the past, with the track 'Dennis Hopper' appearing on their 2020 album Good Luck, Seeker.

Life, Death and Dennis Hopper is also set to feature a flurry of guest appearances, with the likes Sugarfoot, Patti Palladinmm Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith Barny Fletcherm Anana Kaye and Steve Earle joining the ranks alongside Springsteen and Apple.

See the tracklisting for Life, Death and Dennis Hopper below:

1. 'Kansas' (featuring Steve Earle)
2. 'Hollywoodf’55'
3. 'Live In The Moment, Baby'
4. 'Brooke / 1712 North Crescent Heights'
5. 'Andy (A Guy Like You)'
6. 'The Tourist' (featuring Barny Fletcher)
7. 'Freaks On Wheels'
8. 'Blues For Terry Southern'
9. 'Memories Of Monterey'
10. 'Riding Down To Mardi Gras'
11. 'Hopper’s On Top (Genius)'
12. 'Transcendental Peruvian Blues'
13. 'Michelle (Always Stay)'
14. 'Freakout At The Mud Palace'
15. 'Daria'
16. 'Ten Years Gone' (featuring Bruce Springsteen)
17. 'Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend' (featuring Fiona Apple)
18. 'Rock Bottom'
19. 'I Don’t Know How I Made It' (featuring Taylor Goldsmith)
20. 'Frank (Let’s Fu*k)'
21. 'Katherine' (featuring Anana Kaye)
22. 'Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper'
23. 'Golf, They Say'
24. 'Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper'
25. 'Aftermath'