Jethro Tull have returned to detail their first studio album in nearly two decades. The English prog rock power will deliver The Zealot Gene on January 28 via Inside Out Music.
Marking the band's first release since 2003's The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, The Zealot Gene is said to have begun taking shape as early as 2017, and was initially slated for release last year before the COVID-19 pandemic upended release and touring schedules the world over.
Tull bandleader and lone original member Ian Anderson notes in a statement that "the mythos and themes of Biblical storytelling" had a hand in guiding his pen for The Zealot Gene's lyrics, explaining, "While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale storytelling 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."
"Shoshana Sleeping" is the first song from the record to arrive, and you can hear it below alongside a visual created by Thomas Hicks.
Anderson, meanwhile, can be found above on The Zealot Gene's cover, and as someone who mashed together Tull and Taylor Swift album artwork last year, the visual inspiration the bandleader appears to have drawn from Swift's Reputation is not going overlooked.
Last year, Anderson shocked longtime listeners in saying his "days were numbered" due to a lung condition, but later clarified that his case of COPD was in its early stages: "I should be OK for a few more years if COVID-19 doesn't get me first."
The Zealot Gene:
1. Mrs. Tibbets
2. Jacob's Tales
3. Mine Is the Mountain
4. The Zealot Gene
5. Shoshana Sleeping
6. Sad City Sisters
7. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John
8. The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde
9. Where Did Saturday Go?
10. Three Loves, Three
11. In Brief Visitation
12. The Fisherman of Ephesus
Marking the band's first release since 2003's The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, The Zealot Gene is said to have begun taking shape as early as 2017, and was initially slated for release last year before the COVID-19 pandemic upended release and touring schedules the world over.
Tull bandleader and lone original member Ian Anderson notes in a statement that "the mythos and themes of Biblical storytelling" had a hand in guiding his pen for The Zealot Gene's lyrics, explaining, "While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale storytelling 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."
"Shoshana Sleeping" is the first song from the record to arrive, and you can hear it below alongside a visual created by Thomas Hicks.
Anderson, meanwhile, can be found above on The Zealot Gene's cover, and as someone who mashed together Tull and Taylor Swift album artwork last year, the visual inspiration the bandleader appears to have drawn from Swift's Reputation is not going overlooked.
Last year, Anderson shocked longtime listeners in saying his "days were numbered" due to a lung condition, but later clarified that his case of COPD was in its early stages: "I should be OK for a few more years if COVID-19 doesn't get me first."
The Zealot Gene:
1. Mrs. Tibbets
2. Jacob's Tales
3. Mine Is the Mountain
4. The Zealot Gene
5. Shoshana Sleeping
6. Sad City Sisters
7. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John
8. The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde
9. Where Did Saturday Go?
10. Three Loves, Three
11. In Brief Visitation
12. The Fisherman of Ephesus
