Song is title track from latest album
British progressive rock luminaries Jethro Tull has released the video for “The Zealot Gene,” the third single and title track from their latest album. The video is directed by by Iranian film-maker Sam Chegini, who previously created a clip for “Sad City Sisters.”
“The title track offers many allusions to the radical, politically-charged world of populism in leadership,” frontman and flutist Ian Anderson says. “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.”
The Zealot Gene is the band’s first studio album of new material in over 18 years. Originally making headlines in March of this year, the band’s newest offering will see a January 28, 2022 release on Inside Out Music.
A record that began to take shape as early as 2017, the album, 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. 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.
“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,” Anderson says.
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 project, 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.”
The project will be offered in multiple configurations including special edition digipak CD, 2 LP gatefold vinyl with CD, Limited 2 CD/Blu-ray Artbook and Limited Deluxe 3 LP/2 CD/Blu-ray Artwork. Both artbook editions feature a second CD of demos and initial ideas, plus extended liner notes and an interview with Anderson undertaken by Tim Bowness. The Deluxe 3 LP/2 CD/Blu-ray Artbook comes on white vinyl and includes a third LP with the rough demos, slipmat and a numbered art print. Exclusive bundles with red LPs available via the Jethro Tull webstore.
