You’d expect a band rapidly approaching their diamond anniversary to show signs of slowing down, not so Jethro Tull. Formed in Blackpool in 1967 and the veterans of some twenty-three studio albums, this intrepid bunch of musicians, still led by the irrepressible Ian Anderson, have constantly found ways to move their sound forwards and their latest album, Curious Ruminant, is characterised by that pioneering spirit. Featuring nine diverse tracks, woven together with their signature progressive rock sound, this is an album that will sate long term fans and win new admirers.
Following the band’s hiatus (2011-2017) Jethro Tull reappeared, rejuvenated and reinvigorated, releasing The Zealot Gene (the first album with all new, original material in 23 years) in 2022 and since then it has been full steam ahead, treating us to RökFlöte the next year and now Curious Ruminant. It proves that too long between albums is never a good idea: when a band is on a roll you have to strike while the iron is hot and 2025 finds Jethro Tull holding their iron close to the flame. If any proof were needed to the band’s vitality then it can be found in opening track ‘Puppet And The Puppet Master’. After a brief piano interlude the band are off and playing with an energy that suggests we check our diary and make sure this isn’t 1976. There’s plenty of room for Anderson’s flute to flutter and fly whilst the band perform a neat jig beneath, it gives the track a forwards motion and implies this isn’t a group who resting upon past glories.
While Ian’s voice has matured and taken on a whisky-croak, cask-aged feel, it has still retained that playful air. He approaches each of these songs like a character actor, inhabiting the tracks and bringing the folk who inhabit them to life, it gives the likes of ‘Dunsinane Hill’ a three-dimensional, cinematic quality and it is this which sets Tull apart from their peers. ‘Savannah Of Paddington Green’ will plant such strong images in your mind’s eye and will dig deep roots into your soul which makes it rather hard to forget. However, the album’s pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the epic ‘Drink From The Same Well’. Progressive in the truest sense, it’s a sixteen-and-a-half minute song of several suites that shapeshifts and takes on new form as it wends its way. It’s hypnotic in the way that only good prog is, altering it’s lengthy running time into the blink of an eye.
More than a simple curiosity, this is an album that places Jethro Tull in the present and suggests a bright future.
- Curious Ruminant is released via Inside Out Music on 7th March 2025.
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Track List:
- Puppet And The Puppet Master
- Curious Ruminant
- Dunsinane Hill
- The Tipu House
- Savannah Of Paddington Green
- Stygian Hand
- Over Jerusalem
- Drink From The Same Well
- Interim Sleep
