Dexys are going green with their next album as the band explores its Irish roots in a set called Let The Record Show Dexys Do Irish & Country Soul.
The new album - from the band that had two UK number ones in the 1980s with Geno and Come on Eileen - will be released on June 3rd. It's the band's fifth studio set and the first release since 2012's critically-acclaimed One Day I’m Going To Soar.
Drawing on Rowland and co-producer/core band member Sean Read's Irish roots, the album is a combination of their interpretations of Irish songs and other select compositions.
"We had the idea to do this album in 1984 or 1985," says Rowland. "It was to be called Irish and was to feature songs like Carrickfergus. Curragh of Kildare and Women Of Ireland - all of which are featured here. Dexys broke up not too long afterwards, so it didn’t happen."
“The album is called Dexys do Irish & Country Soul: do it, not become it,” he emphasises. “We’re not trying to be Irish, and we haven’t used too many Celtic instruments on there. It’s our sound. We’re bringing our style to these songs.
"I'm just a guy who follows my intuition, my inspiration. This really felt like the right thing to do. We have put probably more care and attention into these songs than we might have done with our own songs, because the odds were high. It was important to get them right, and make sure every one of them felt relevant to us."
Here's a short documentary about the making of the album:
