Irish rock legends Thin Lizzy have announced they will release their first new album in over 40 years early next year.
Titled The Acoustic Sessions, the record will comprise acoustic reimaginings of classic songs that pair unreleased Phil Lynott vocal tracks with brand-new guitar parts recorded by original member, Eric Bell.
Renowned for their twin guitar harmonies, Thin Lizzy found themselves exploring a heavier sound on their last studio album, 1983's Thunder and Lightning.
Not long after that record arrived, the band came to an abrupt halt following the death of bass player and founding member Phil Lynott in 1986.
Despite sporadically touring with various new-look lineups over the years, the Thin Lizzy brand has released no official music has since then. As such, this new record represents the first new Thin Lizzy release for over four decades.
Eric Bell was part of the band’s original line-up alongside Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. He and organist Eric Wrixon would eventually make way for what would become the band’s most-known line-up, featuring Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson.
As the guitarist attests, the acoustic reworkings – which tackle classics such as Whiskey In The Jar, Shades of a Blue Orphanage and Dublin – hark back to their original songwriting tact.
Of recording Eire from their 1971 self-titled debut, Bell says: “I wrote the main guitar part first on acoustic and then we built it up from there. I played the 12-string acoustic guitar throughout the track and introduced the electric on top.
“This was useful in the studio in Belfast recently where we recorded fresh guitar parts to allow us to create new Thin Lizzy acoustic versions of some of our favourite songs,” he continues.
That found the guitarist and producer Richard Whittaker “recreating those original acoustic parts and adding the vocals which Philip laid down on the day and those original drum parts”.
There have been numerous versions of Thin Lizzy’s classic Whiskey In The Jar over the years, including Metallica’s hugely successful Garage Inc. cover, but this marks the first official acoustic release from the band.
Its origins as an Irish folk song can reportedly be traced back to the 1700s, but Lynott and co. breathed fresh life into it in 1972, when it appeared as a bonus track on Vagabonds of the Western World.
Whittaker, who was tasked with scouring the original recording sessions to create skeleton tracks for Bell, believes “we’ve made something really quite unique and special”.
Acoustic Sessions releases on January 24 2025 via Decca Records. A special two-disc edition includes an exclusive bonus track, Slow Blues G.M, written as a tribute to Gary Moore.
Head to Thin Lizzy for more.
Track listing:
- Mama Nature Said
- A Song For While I’m Away
- Eire
- Slow Blues
- Dublin
- Whiskey In The Jar
- Here I Go Again
- Shades Of A Blue Orphanage
- Remembering Pt. 2
- Slow Blues G.M (Gary Moore)
