Having left nearly twenty years between last year’s album The Zealot Gene and its predecessor, The Jethro Tull Christmas album in 2003, Jethro Tull has announced the release of a new album RökFlöte on 21st April 2023. The record is based on the characters and roles of some of the principle gods of the old Norse paganism, and at the same time exploring the ‘RökFlöte’ – rock flute – which Jethro Tull has made iconic. Ian Anderson, the band’s leader, vocalist and flautist explains; “The title of this offering went through a little change or two along the way. I started with the idea of a predominantly instrumental album for rock flute – as in rock music. When the subject material of the album presented itself, I was drawn to the term Ragnarök from Norse mythology – their version of apocalyptic end times or Biblical Armageddon. The “final showdown” scenario is ubiquitous and inherent in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for example. Ragnarök translates as “destiny of the Gods”, the rök part meaning destiny, course, direction. With umlaut firmly in place, courtesy of the Germanic origins of Old Norse, Flute became Flöte in keeping with the spelling. With me so far? I just can’t miss the glorious opportunity for a good and legitimate umlaut.”
‘RökFlöte’ will be available in several different formats, including two limited deluxe formats that include bonus demo material, extensive liner notes & a blu-ray featuring Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround sound, alternative stereo mixes by Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), as well as a bonus track and in-depth interview with Ian Anderson. The album will also be available digitally in the spatial audio formats Dolby Atmos & Sony 360 RA. The full list of formats are:
Ltd Deluxe Dark Red 2LP+2CD+Blu-ray Artbook incl. 2 x art-prints
Ltd Deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook
Special Edition CD Digipak
Gatefold 180g LP+LP-booklet
Digital Album
You are able to pre-order the album here: https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/RokFlote
Tracks:
1. Voluspo
2. Ginnungagap
3. Allfather
4. The Feathered Consort
5. Hammer On Hammer
6. Wolf Unchained
7. The Perfect One
8. Trickster (And The Mistletoe)
9. Cornucopia
10. The Navigators
11. Guardian’s Watch
12. Ithavoll
The band has launched the first single from the album, and you can watch the stunning animated video for ‘Ginnungagap’ (created by Costin Chioreanu) here: https://youtu.be/KoBAD-TRxYA
The track takes inspiration from the god Ymir, the proto-being, a primeval being, who was born from venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar, and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap.
The current band line-up of Jethro Tull is:
Ian Anderson – concert and alto flutes, Flute d’Amour,
Irish whistle and vocals
David Goodier – bass guitar
John O’Hara – piano, keyboards and Hammond organ
Scott Hammond – drums.
Joe Parrish-James – electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin
Jethro Tull continue live dates this year, with shows in mainland Europe. You can find the full list of shows here: https://jethrotull.com/tour-dates/
You can keep up on-line with the band here:
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