We can count on one hand the number of bands that released albums of original material for seven decades. Jethro Tull is of course one of them, and judging by their recent activity, they are as far as possible from resting on their laurels.
The Zealot Gene came out in early 2022, while 2023 saw the release of RökFlöte. On March 7th, the band will release a new effort, entitled Curious Ruminant. Consisting of nine tracks varying in length from two and a half minutes to almost seventeen minutes, this is an album of mostly full band music, again in a broadly progressive rock style. Stylistically, it does not deviate from the traditional Tull sound, and the subtle backdrop of acoustic and folk rock serves to remind of the band’s heritage of the 70s.
In a recent conversation with Rodrigo Altaf, Jethro Tull‘s frontman Ian Anderson opened up about the album, offering an unvarnished look at his lifelong quest for meaning, and the unpredictable journey of creativity.
“It was a collection of songs, really, from a number of different sources in terms of lyric writing. All the lyrics were written in late May, early June of last year,” he explained, setting the stage for a project that’s more a reflection of his inner life than a traditional concept album. He continued, “And without making it an album of songs where I’m preaching to people or telling them what they should think, I am offering a little bit more of a personal insight into my own feelings and thoughts.”
Anderson‘s writing here is by and large on a more personal level of lyric content than we are used to hearing. For instance, on “Puppet And The Puppet Master” he addresses mutual manipulation, and asks who is pulling the strings in a relationship after all. The title track combines Rene Descartes, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, and can be described as a song of cogitation. ‘Dunsinane Hill” is a reimagination of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and “The Tipu House” is subtitled a song of aspiration in adversity. Overall, this is a more thematically varied effort than the previous two.
Anderson didn’t shy away from discussing the deeper questions that have driven his work over the years. “I have, since I was a young teenager, always been interested in the big questions, questions about religion, about the sense of who we are, why we are here. Are we just an accident of the gathering together of atoms and molecules, and the gradual development of life, and the whole universe is some random explosion of cause and effect? Or is there some more spiritual underlying reasoning that we might want to try to apply, even if there is no definitive clear-cut answer?,” he reflected.
When asked about the title track he elaborates further: “But my own beliefs are a little more esoteric and don’t really require a user manual because I haven’t come to any really firm conclusions. For me, it’s a matter of continuing to learn and investigate and consider the world of possibilities and maybe probabilities, but whilst avoiding the certainties that come with being a religious devotee and entering into the state of ritual worship, which I’m not really ready for, if I ever am.”
“Having said that, I support the Christian church being the one that I was vaguely born into, and I’m an activist within the Christian church in the sense that I raise money every year for the great churches and cathedrals, particularly in the UK, but sometimes elsewhere too, which would never be built in this present day, buildings that are maybe a thousand years old and have an architectural as well as a spiritual magnificence. So I’m engaged in that for a few days every year. I’m a supporter of the Christian church, but I don’t call myself a Christian with a capital C,” he concluded.
When discussing his ongoing work and the unpredictability of inspiration, he remarked, “But who knows? A month from now, six months from now, a year from now, there might be another album.” He notes that his schedule remains busy, saying, “I’m always busy. And, you know, I play on other people’s records quite frequently when they ask me to, you know, give them a little bit of a flutey helping hand and I’m doing that.”
Anderson’s narrative weaves in the serendipitous origins of key tracks, such as the story behind “Drink from the Same Well.” He recalled: “It had a working title of ‘Drink from the Same Well’, applicable to the idea of East and West coming together musically and sharing in something as a musical experience. So it seemed like something very worthwhile to keep in the real world and give people a chance to hear.” He added details about its evolution — from a demo recorded back in 2007 to a revived track discovered by his son — illustrating the serendipitous nature of his creative process.
His candid approach extends to memories of brief collaborations too, touching upon his brief yet memorable interaction with Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi: “Tony is a very idiosyncratic guitar player, one who, when I first met him, had a very distinctive style. And it was appealing to me because it was very direct and very it was a very tuneful, hard rock,” he recalled, adding, “We got together and played around for a couple of days in the studio and it wasn’t going to work out for him or for us as a permanent replacement. Tony and I have been good friends, and occasionally we bump into each other, and we exchange Christmas cards every year.”
Looking ahead, Anderson confirms that his touring plans remain focused on the UK and Europe, “But I’m pretty much committed in 2025 to shows in the UK and Europe. And so 2026, we’re just beginning to start to put in some shows in that year.” Even his travel musings carry a familiar wryness: “I mean, I do like the Northeast. I suppose the further west you go, the more you enter cattle country and something a little bit more American. But, you know, from the more traditionally European parts of Canada, I feel always a sense of being in Europe.”
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