Deep Purple already has plans for a new album, scheduled for release in June.
In an interview with Songwriting For Songwriters , vocalist Ian Gillan said the band is finalizing their new album and revealed details about the successor to =1 , released in July 2024 [transcription via Blabbermouth ].
“I can’t reveal too much right now, but it’s basically very optimistic. Let’s say there’s an overall theme. It’s a rather vague conceptual idea about the end of humanity, but not as bleak as it sounds. In fact, it’s very optimistic. It’s about humanity’s metamorphosis into a metaphysical state, our next incarnation. It’s a little early to give interviews about it. I don’t mean the time of day. I mean the album isn’t coming out until June, so I don’t want to reveal too much,” Gillan revealed.
The creative process of Deep Purple
The 80-year-old musician also explained that Deep Purple's creative process is based on long collective jams, in which the musicians improvise freely for days until ideas, moods, and riffs are selected and developed.
“For example, Purple’s work routine has always been the same. We go to a place for a week or 10 days and we get together every day. We start at noon, finish at six, and stop for tea at three. It’s like going to the office. And the guys just start playing, and it’s all improvised. […] Basically, it’s a week-long or eight-day jam session. And every now and then, someone nods to someone else and says, ‘Okay, this is worth saving,’ an idea, a mood, a rhythm, a sequence, or something like that, and we record it and come back at the end of the session with probably 35 or 40 ideas,” he said.
According to him, the songs are born mainly from these sessions, while his contribution happens later, adjusting vocals and lyrics to the structures already created.
“Basically, it’s the guys who put the songs together. And I just have to… what I call ‘riding the horse.’ And when it comes to sitting down alone and shaping my contribution, I have to fit in perfectly. But on the other hand, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by something like that because it’s a huge challenge. So, I’ve adopted this attitude of taking control, of completely dominating and making it sound not like I’m coming in later, but like the whole idea came from the music first. So, I have total freedom in terms of lyrics, but obviously there’s a question of atmosphere. And it needs to match the songs,” he revealed.
In an interview with Third Age Trust , Ian Gillan revealed that Deep Purple will begin their tour between April and November with a series of shows that will include another leg in South America.
The group's last visit to the country was in June of this year, for a single performance at Best of Blues and Rock in São Paulo.
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