In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, JETHRO TULL mastermind Ian Anderson was asked if the “more personal” nature of the band’s latest album, “Curious Ruminant”, was in any way influenced by the social, political and economic complexities that characterize the “rapidly changing” world. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Not really to a great degree. I absorb a lot of news and documentary material every day of my life. I mean, I read seven or eight newspapers every day — everything from the right-wing elements to the left. And it’s not just British newspapers, but internationally too. I watch frequently Al Jazeera or Fox TV when I can see it. And, of course CNN, which is more common in our part of the world to be able to see. Along with the online versions of many major newspapers, from the Ukrainian English-language newspaper and the Washington Post through to the right-wing material that we find in the U.K., which is perhaps not as hard right as the hard right of the U.S. is, but nonetheless is quite often demonstrating populism, extreme populism, which is a rising force throughout Europe as well as in the USA. But, yeah, I take in all that stuff and, obviously, it does infuse some of the songs that I write, but I am not a musical version of CNN. I’m not there to deliver the world’s news in song and dance. Certain elements will spin down into lyrics, but I don’t think the topicality is a good thing to dwell on because so often you can become out of date by the time you’ve recorded something and it finally makes it into the public domain. It’s nine months or a year later. So things could be ridiculously out of date by then.”Ian continued: “I didn’t do anything back then when I was talking about, or thinking about something that might touch upon the situation in Ukraine, because I had to cancel my concerts in Ukraine and Russia a couple of years ago following the 2022 full-scale invasion. And I am deeply disappointed about that. It would have been, in a way, a natural thing to have somehow touched upon in a song. But because of the enormity of that ongoing war, and the way in which things hang by a thread, it is… I mean, today the Russians, we are told, actually did hit the the containment dome around Chernobyl reactor number four, causing, as it happens, a minimal amount of damage and no meaningful radiation leak, but it could have been so much worse. There are these things that everything could change dramatically. And, of course, with the intervention of Orange Man in politics by speaking to Putin and perhaps giving the impression that somehow he is going to be negotiating on the matter for everyone, which obviously upsets Zelensky and a lot of people in Ukraine, we could be moving into, if not an endgame, certainly into a radical change in what’s happening in Ukraine. And so if I’d written about it, a month from now it could all be out of date. And therefore you’ve gotta be a little careful about what you choose to write about, because the more specific you are, the more chances… times change. Or perhaps even as a songwriter, my own thoughts might change, my own opinions might change. I might change my mind completely about something. And so you don’t wanna get caught out by saying things that you then regret with the passing of time because you take a different viewpoint.”JETHRO TULL’s 24th studio album, “Curious Ruminant” was released on March 7, 2025.”Curious Ruminant” consists of nine new tracks varying in length from two and half minutes to almost seventeen minutes. Among the musicians featured are former JETHRO TULL keyboardist Andrew Giddings and drummer James Duncan, along with the current bandmembers David Goodier, John O’Hara, Scott Hammond and, making his recording debut with JETHRO TULL, guitarist Jack Clark.”Curious Ruminant” is available on several different formats, including a limited deluxe ultra clear 180g 2LP + 2CD + Blu-ray artbook and limited deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray artbook. Both of these feature the main album, alternative stereo mixes and a Blu-ray containing Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound (once again undertaken by Bruce Soord of THE PINEAPPLE THIEF),as well as exclusive interview material. The limited deluxe vinyl artbook also includes two exclusive art-prints. The album is also be available as a special edition CD digipak, gatefold 180g LP + LP booklet and as digital album (in both stereo and Dolby Atmos).Anderson had been saying for months following the release of “RökFlöte” that he would embark on a new project in late 2023. He waited only a few weeks before the first notions began to solidify into some drafted words of intent and in May 2024, some unfinished music recorded earlier with John O’Hara, David Goodier and James Duncan became the starting point for the new songs as they took shape.Writing the lyrics and melodies for all the newly written material came very quickly once he began in earnest during June and just seemed to slot right in to the musical feel and styles of the earlier recordings.Anderson’s writing here is often on a more personal level of lyric content than we are used to hearing. Interspersed with his usual observational descriptions are the slightly more heart-on-sleeve moments of soul-baring — albeit not on the topics more often paraded by the usual I-me lyric merchants of pop and rock.Some of the songs are developed from unfinished instrumental demos made some years ago although this does not result in a huge stylistic divide to jump out at the listener. Apart from the signature flute solos and melodies, accordion, mandolin, acoustic and tenor guitars feature on several tracks too, so the subtle backdrop of acoustic and folk rock serves to remind of the TULL heritage of the 1970s.[embedded content]