“I’m a curious person, not in the sense of being weird, in the sense of having curiosity. I’m also a ruminant in the sense of being contemplative. The two together seemed like a good title for an album.” – Ian Anderson.
Any new music from Jethro Tull is always to be welcomed. The band went almost twenty years without releasing any albums, though band leader Ian Anderson did release several solo albums. However, in the past three years, two new studio albums, The Zealot Gene and Rokflote, have been released, with both albums signalling a return to the kind of form which saw the Tull achieve superstar status back in the 1970s. And, even though Jethro Tull have probably had more members pass through their ranks than the London Philharmonic Orchestra, this album happily sounds like the classic Jethro Tull, despite the band having a completely different line-up from the classic years .. with the familiar sound of Anderson’s voice paired with the thrilling sound of the flute a welcome constant in a changing world. Every member of the current band has played in a previous incarnation of Jethro Tull at some point, except guitarist Jack Clark, who replaced Joe Parrish in 2022, and they handle the sometimes seemingly simple though actually quite complex music with considerable aplomb. And while it’s a truism Ian Anderson’s vocal style is now more conversational than actual singing, and there are notes he can no longer reach, it’s his charisma which carries the band onwards.
This new album consists of nine tracks of varying lengths, ranging from slightly under three minutes, such as ‘Interim Sleep,’ with Anderson getting in touch with his spiritual side, right up to almost seventeen, the mighty ‘Drink From The Same Well.’ There’re some quite weighty topics being considered, such as environmental protection on ‘Savannah of Paddington Green,‘ and everyone with the same rights on ‘Over Jerusalem,’ a song sounding like an outtake from Zealot Gene. The music on this album, like on most previous Tull albums, is an intricate mix of varying instrumentation alongside thoughtful lyrics, and there’s no great departure in style, with a backdrop of acoustic and folk rock, such as on title track ‘Curious Ruminant,’ which sounds like a nod back towards classic seventies Tull albums, such as Minstrel in the Gallery and Songs From The Wood.
Some of the songs derive from pieces of music lying around from years back. The Celtic-tinged ‘Dunsanine Hill’ evolved from an unrecorded instrumental the band played onstage a few times in 2007. Also, ‘Drink From The Same Well,’ with its message of “no matter our differences, we all drink from the same well,” emerged from an idea which’s been kicking around since keyboard man Andrew Giddings was previously in the band. There’s probably only around three minutes of vocalising, the rest being filled with some outstanding playing, including Anderson performing on both concert and bamboo flute.
It’s probably true to say we’ve no right to expect an album written and performed as well as this from someone now aged 77, an age when most normal guys have long retired. However, whether Ian Anderson’s voice is up to touring, or whether the Tull have another album in them, are both debatable points but, whatever, this is indeed a fine album, well worthy of the name Jethro Tull.
