Hear Robert Plant’s Thunderous New Song ‘Bones of Saints’
Robert Plant released a thunderous new song, “Bones of Saints,” from his upcoming 11th LP, Carry Fire. The frontman favors his smoky lower register, crooning a series of brooding images (“madness in the air,” “fire up in the sky”) as backing band the Sensational Space Shifters churn up rustic guitars and thumping tom-toms.
Carry Fire, out October 13th via Nonesuch/Warner Bros., also features lead single “The May Queen,” a more reflective piece that nods toward his old band’s acoustic work on Led Zeppelin III.
The 11-track LP, which follows 2014’s Lullaby and… the Ceaseless Roar, features the Sensational Shapeshifters (John Baggott, Justin Adams, Dave Smith and Liam “Skin” Tyson), with cellist Redi Hasa and violist/violinist Seth Lakeman on three cuts. Chrissie Hynde performs a duet with Plant on a cover of Ersel Hickey’s “Bluebirds Over the Mountain.”
“It’s about intention, I respect and relish my past works but each time I feel the lure and incentive to create new work. I must mix old with new,” Plant said in a statement of his creative direction on the LP. “Consequently the whole impetus of the band has moved on its axis somewhat, the new sound and different space giving way to exciting and dramatic landscapes of mood, melody and instrumentation.”
Plant will promote Carry Fire with a tour launching in November in the U.K. and Ireland.