Tom Waits’ Tour De Force

Last week the singer/songwriter posted two mysterious photos on his website that both declared “Coming August 7.” The July 31 post, titled “Permission To Come Aboard?” showed Waits wearing an eye patch and brandishing a sword. Two days later the next post on his website, titled “I Breathe Better Underwater,” featured an image of Waits hanging out underwater with some shark submarines.

Waits kept the fun going on the eve of his announcement with an Aug. 6 post titled “Never Bring a Gun To A Spoonfight.” Once again teasing that something was “Coming August 7,” this image shows Waits and a giant spoon facing an open flame.

Fans and music blogs speculated that Waits might announce his first tour since 2008. Or maybe he’s been busy and already has a new album coming out.

Now that it’s finally Aug. 7, Waits has a new post on his site titled “Tom Delivers Us From Suspense.” And it’s … a video for the tune “Hell Broke Luce.” The song is featured on Waits most recent album, 2011’s Bad As Me.    

“As most of you guessed, it’s a tour … a tour de force!” Waits said in a statement, posted on NPR’s All Songs Considered blog.

“Matt Mahurin has created an apocalyptic war dream to accompany the song ‘Hell Broke Luce.’ Kathleen [Brennan] and I envisioned it as an enlightened drill sergeant yelling the hard truths of war to a brand new batch of recruits. The video grew from the gnawing image of a soldier pulling his home, through a battlefield, at the end of a rope.

“I think you will agree, it’s uplifting and fun.”