The Great Western Road (album)

The album follows the release of their tenth studio album, Riding on the Tide of Love (2021), which continued their commercial success since their reunion in 2012. The album was formally announced by the band in November 2024 with a release in March 2025. In an interview with BBC Radio 2, lead singer Ricky Ross stated that The Great Western Road takes its name from the Great Western Road in Glasgow, stating that the Glasgow road "leads from the city centre through the West End of Glasgow - which is a really cool and trendy part - and I always thought that for a certain time we owned that. It was the place we wanted to be and we seemed part of it for about two months in 1987". The lead single to be released from the album, "Late 88", premiered on BBC Radio 2 with Zoe Ball on 26 November 2024. Ross and the group's guitarist Gregor Philp shared production duties on The Great Western Road, with engineer Matt Butler previously collaborating with the band on their debut studio album, Raintown (1987). ==Release and promotion==

The album was released on 21 March 2025 via Cooking Vinyl. To promote the release of the album, the band released the lead single, "Late 88" on 29 November 2024, receiving its first airplay in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 2 on 26 November 2024, three days prior to the singles official release. The tour will conclude in October 2025 with two homecoming shows at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. ==Commercial performance==

The album debuted at number one on the Scottish Albums Chart, number three on the UK Albums Chart and number two on the UK Independent Albums Chart. It became their highest charting album in the United Kingdom since 1991's Fellow Hoodlums, and their seventh UK Top 10 album overall. ==Track listing==

Deacon Blue • Ricky Ross – vocals, Wurlitzer, piano, clapping, production • Lorraine McIntosh – vocals, tambourine, shaker, clapping • James Prime – piano, Hammond C3, keyboards, vocals, clapping, string arrangement on "Late '88" • Dougie Vipond – drums, percussion, vocals, clapping • Gregor Philp – acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, vocals, clapping, production • Lewis Gordon – bass guitar, vocals, clapping Additional contributors • Ash Howes – additional programming, additional mixing • Robin Sutherland – mastering • Matt Butler – recording • Sarah McLeod – strings and brass recording • The Pumpkin Seeds – strings • Pete Harvey – string arrangements, cello • Kate Miguda – violin • Claire Telford – violin • Kirsty Orton – violin • Gisela Hans – violin • Marsailidh Groat – viola • Sarah Leonard – viola • Patsy Reid – viola • Liam Shortall – brass scoring, trombone • Michael Butcher – alto saxophone • Mateusz Sobiesky – tenor saxophone • Matt Gough – trumpet, flugelhorn • DB Studio – sleeve design • Niall McMenamin – album cover • Paul Kelly – album cover • Johnny Bell – album cover ==Charts==