The build up by progressive rock legends Jethro Tull for the group’s first studio album of new material in over eighteen years continues. The album The Zealot Gene will be released on 28th January, 2022 on Inside Out Music. A video for the albums third single and title track is now available, once again directed by Iranian film-maker Sam Chegini, who previously created a clip for ‘Sad City Sisters’. The video is viewable here: https://youtu.be/1APwlHY50vo

Ian Anderson satys of the song: “The title track offers many allusions to the radical, politically-charged world of populism in leadership. As a song lyric, it sums up, for me, the divisive nature of societal relationships and the extreme views which fuel the fires of hate and prejudice, more so today perhaps, than at any time in history. Perhaps you think you know who I might have been thinking about here but, in reality, there are probably right now at least five prominent, dictatorial national figures who could fit the bill.”

Jethro Tull has already released other videos for songs from the album. They are viewable here:

Sad City Sisters: https://youtu.be/lsQJl8tXO1Y

Shoshana Sleepin’: https://youtu.be/uPTeqsBd1Ik

The new album itself began to take shape as early as 2017, The Zealot Gene, in many ways, seeks to defy convention during a time when the business of being a touring and recording artist has never faced more uncertainties. Tull bandleader Ian Anderson holds no reservations about the role for which the mythos and themes of Biblical storytelling played in the lyrical content of the new album, saying: “While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale story-telling of the Holy Book, I still feel the need to question and draw sometimes unholy parallels from the text. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly rear their heads throughout, but are punctuated with elements of love, respect, and tenderness.”

Looking back on the earth-shaking disruption of the Coronavirus pandemic, which ultimately ended the band’s touring plans and hopes of a 2020 release for The Zealot Gene, Anderson shares, “It was so sudden. Amidst the concerns and warnings of the scientific community and a few more enlightened politicians, we all retreated in disbelief to our homes to wait out the storm.”

You can watch the second part of several new interviews with Ian Anderson on the making of the album here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OHwUEgs0wM

Home