Jethro Tull to release 23rd album RökFlöte this April

January 20, 2023

Jethro Tull will release their 23rd album RökFlöte on 21 April 2023 via InsideOutMusic. The first single Ginnungagap, along with a Costin Chioreanu-created animated video, is available to watch now.

Tull “wrapped up the recording and mixing a few weeks ago,” Ian Anderson told us in November, with the release put back “due to the usual long wait for vinyl pressing and manufacturing.”

Following the success of The Zealot Gene, RökFlöte boasts 12 tracks based on the characters and roles of some of the principal gods of the old Norse paganism while also exploring the ‘RökFlöte’, or rock flute, which Jethro Tull has made iconic.

“The title of this offering went through a little change or two along the way,” Anderson said. “I started with the idea of a predominantly instrumental album for rock flute – as in rock music. When the subject material of the album presented itself, I was drawn to the term Ragnarök from Norse mythology – their version of apocalyptic end times or Biblical Armageddon.

“The ‘final showdown’ scenario is ubiquitous and inherent in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for example. Ragnarök translates as ‘destiny of the Gods’, the rök part meaning destiny, course, and direction. With umlaut firmly in place, courtesy of the Germanic origins of Old Norse, Flute became Flöte in keeping with the spelling.

“With me so far? I just can’t miss the glorious opportunity for a good and legitimate umlaut.”

The first single, Ginnungagap, is inspired by the god Ymir, the proto-being, a primaeval being who was born from venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap.

RökFlöte will be available in several different formats, including two limited deluxe formats that include bonus demo material, extensive liner notes & a blu-ray featuring Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround sound, alternative stereo mixes by Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), as well as a bonus track and in-depth interview with Ian Anderson.

The album will also be available digitally in the spatial audio formats Dolby Atmos & Sony 360 RA.

Pre-orders are available at https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/RokFlote.