Ringo Starr‘s first full-length in six years will be a country album. The Beatles instrumentalist will share Look Up on January 10 via Universal.
Produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett, Look Up follows Starr’s 2019 album What’s My Name, which preceded a run of five recent EPs: 2021’s Zoom In and Change the World, 2022’s EP3, 2023’s Rewind Forward and this year’s Crooked Boy.
Starr sings and plays drums on all 11 of Look Up‘s tracks, which feature the likes of Alison Krauss, Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius and Molly Tuttle.
“Time on My Hands” is the first song from the album to arrive, and you can hear it in the player below. This isn’t the Beatle’s first go-round with the style, having taken a country direction with sophomore album Beaucoups of Blues in 1970.
“I’ve always loved country music. And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song — but of course it was, and it was so beautiful.” Starr recalled in a release. “I had been making EPs at the time and so I thought we would do a country EP — but when he brought me nine songs I knew we had to make an album! And I am so glad we did. I want to thank, and send peace & love, to T Bone and all the great musicians who helped make this record. It was a joy making it and I hope it is a joy to listen to.”
“I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can (or care to) remember,” added Burnett. “To get to make this music with him was something like the realization of a 60-year dream I’ve been living. None of the work that I have done through a long life in music would have happened if not for him and his band. Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”
Starr will present the new tunes shortly after the album’s release with two headline shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on January 14 and 15.
Look Up:
1. Breathless (feat. Billy Strings)
2. Look Up (feat. Molly Tuttle)
3. Time on My Hands
4. Never Let Me Go (feat. Billy Strings)
5. I Live For Your Love (feat. Molly Tuttle)
6. Come Back (feat. Lucius)
7. Can You Hear Me Call (feat. Molly Tuttle)
8. Rosetta (feat. Billy Strings and Larkin Poe)
9. You Want Some
10. String Theory (feat. Molly Tuttle)
11. Thankful (feat. Alison Krauss)
