Jethro Tull launch video for “Sad City Sisters”

British Progressive Rock Luminaries Jethro Tull recently announced details for the group’s first studio album of new material in over 18 years! Originally making headlines in March of this year, the band’s newest offering, titled “The Zealot Gene”, will see a January 28th, 2022 release on Inside Out Music. Now they are pleased to reveal the video for the albums second single “Sad City Sisters”, directed by Iranian filmmaker Sam Chegini who previously created a clip for the much-loved classic “Aqualung”.

Ian Anderson comments on the track: ‘Sad City Sisters throws up memories of a Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales when I was on my way home from our concert in St David’s Hall some years ago. It could equally well have been any town in the UK, I suppose, or even most cities of the Western World. What possesses hell-bent and vulnerable young people to slip so easily into that tragic loss of dignity and end up sprawling drunk in a wet and windy street at midnight?’

A record that began to take shape as early as 2017, “The Zealot Gene”, in many ways, seeks to defy convention during a time when the business of being a touring and recording artist has never faced more uncertainties. Tull bandleader Ian Anderson holds no reservations about the role for which the mythos and themes of Biblical storytelling played in the lyrical content of the new album.

‘While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale story-telling of the Holy Book, I still feel the need to question and draw sometimes unholy parallels from the text. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly rear their heads throughout, but are punctuated with elements of love, respect, and tenderness.’

Looking back on the earth-shaking disruption of the Coronavirus pandemic, which ultimately ended the band’s touring plans and hopes of a 2020 release for “The Zealot Gene”, Anderson shares, ‘It was so sudden. Amidst the concerns and warnings of the scientific community and a few more enlightened politicians, we all retreated in disbelief to our homes to wait out the storm.’

With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totalling more than 50 million, Jethro Tull is one of the most successful rock bands of all time with a catalogue that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Ian Anderson, Tull still continues to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages. 

“The Zealot Gene” Tracklisting:

1. Mrs. Tibbets (5:54)
2. Jacob’s Tales (2:13)
3. Mine Is The Mountain (5:40)
4. The Zealot Gene (3:54)
5. Shoshana Sleeping (3:41)
6. Sad City Sisters (3:40)
7. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John (3:37)
8. The Betrayal Of Joshua Kynde (4:06)
9. Where Did Saturday Go? (3:53)
10. Three Loves, Three (3:30)
11. In Brief Visitation (3:00)
12. The Fisherman Of Ephesus (3:41)