LONDON--British folk-rock band the Waterboys are to release their first new single and album in seven years, which will be backed by a 12-date tour in October.

Mike Scott, who started the band in London in 1981, will head a new lineup for the medium-size venue tour which kicks off in Cambridge, England, on October 15. The new album "A Rock in a Weary Land" will be released through RCA on September 18, preceded by the single "Is She Conscious" on September 4.

After Scott disbanded the Waterboys in 1993, he spent time in New York and Scotland, and released solo albums "Bring Em All In" in 1995 and "Still Burning" in 1997.

Former Waterboys keyboardist Karl Wallinger is also on the comeback trail. World Party, the band Wallinger formed after he quit the Waterboys in 1985, will release the single "Here Comes the Future" on August 7 on Papillion Records, followed by the album "Dumbing Up" on August 21. World Party's first four albums will also be re-issued during the week of August 28.

World Party will play in Glasgow, Scotland, on September 26, at Manchester University in England on the 27th and in London on the 28th.