Joe Jackson looks back and forward as 2019 gets under way.
To mark 40 years since his January 1979 debut with the new wave album Look Sharp -- and its hit single "Is She Really Going Out With Him" -- Jackson will release Fool on January 18th and kick off his Four Decade tour on February 5th.
Jackson tells Billboard he's never really fit simple definitions. "When I was 22, 23 years old in London in the late '70s, I was very influenced by what was going on around me...even if I was already overqualified to be a punk rocker. I was a Steely Dan-loving piano player. And I was interested in jazz, and I had classical training as well, so I was a bit of a misfit."
Fool rocks more than Jackson has on his recent projects -- but retains a melodic nature and a few jazzy overtones. He's posted the preview single "Fabulously Absolute" on YouTube.