Jethro Tull/ Curious Ruminant

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Jethro Tull/ Curious Ruminant 

Genre: Rock

Label: InsideOut Music 

Rating: *** 1/2

The last two Jethro Tull albums had specific recurring themes, with The Zealot Gene inspired by Biblical verses and RokFlote drawing from Norse paganism. Now, on the new release Curious Ruminant, frontman and composer Ian Anderson doesn't stick to anything in particular, as he moves from puppet tales and Macbeth-ian references to reflective songs and a lengthy suite inspired by Indian music.

While that may seem like a bundle of confusion, the heartening thing is that in terms of composition and arrangement, the songs are rich, adding many mandolin and accordion parts to Anderson's gorgeously trademark flute. The arrival of new guitarist Jack Clark adds a twist, as his sĥort solos pepper some of the tracks. John O'Hara has a prominent role on piano, keyboard and accordion.

One could club the nine songs under two broad categories - the first seven representing vintage Tull, and the others involving experiments. Like in the past two albums, Anderson's voice is rough, and nowhere close to that charming rasp one heard in the 1970s. At 77, he's obviously aware of that, and sings within his range, staying away from the stretched syllables and harder rock flavours. It works most of the time, except on 'Dunsinane Hill' and 'Over Jerusalem', both songs with great melodies, intense lyrics and smooth instrumentation, but weak vocal sections.

Unlike most of his repertoire, where he uses an impressionistic approach to describe things he observes, Anderson chooses a personal.style with a lot of 'I' and 'me'. It begins with the folksy opening song 'Puppet And The Puppet Master', where he sings, "Holding court on a black box stage, dangling from the strings, I twirl and face the music and a prompter in the wings; I am both willing puppet, puppet master also, with lofty expectations set to pull me to and fro".

The title track, second in the song order, would easily classify as a later-day Tull masterpiece. With its piano-flute intro, recurrent melody motif, rhythm guitar backdrop and lead guitar sections, it builds up beautifully. The opening lines, "I count my life in seconds past, in meeting minutes, hours surpass; days of quiet watching folk upper class, flow through the years wondering aloud" indicate the song's mood, and the ending is reminiscent of the Thick As A Brick side one climax.

Another gem comes from 'Stygian Hand', with its peppy intro, 1969's 'Fat Man' kind of melody and a stunning use of the word 'Crash'. On 'Tipu House', Anderson talks of people who have risen from poverty to achieve greatness by following their dreams. "Oh God's children play in the toxic city garden, stealing from their brethren a saucy view of war; Of domestic incidents, a guilty copulation, the days of books and roses shown firmly", he sings, in a kind of Marquesian use of words.

Barring the edgier title track, most of the songs reflect the band's folk-rock roots. But there's a clear tangent on the last two tracks. 'Drink From The Same Well' is 16 minutes and 41 seconds long, making it the third longest Tull track after 'Thick As A Brick' and 'A Passion Play', and just two seconds longer than 'Baker Street Muse', that fabulous suite from the 1975 album The Minstrel In The Gallery.  Conceived while Tull was on tour of Dubai and India with flautist Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia in 2004, and recorded as a demo which was never used, it consists of distinct, unreĺated segments. It largely focuses on flute and accordion, with some stunning piano and a vocal line in the middle. It's a great piece for those with the patience, though even after that length, one feels the ending is rather sudden.

Interestingly, Anderson concludes the album with the spoken word piece 'Interim Sleep', which talks of lending support to a bereaved person. Anderson's spoken voice is another zone, as one has heard in all those interviews and in his live shows. But this is deep poetry, which in a way reminds one of Jim Morrison's recitation, though it sounds unique in its own way.

The album's strength lies in the sheer level of musicianship, with Anderson producing it himself. The flute-playing is consistent, with the song's having distinct catch-phrases. Pumping up the rhythm section are bassist David Goodier and drummer Scott Hammond. Guest appearances by Andrew Giddings on piano and accordion (on 'Drink From The Same Well') and drummer James Duncan add variety. 

Like most Tull albums, Curious Ruminant takes time to settle down. It's not fair to dismiss it after one half-baked listen. What becomes apparent after a few replays is that Anderson's songwriting and flute-playing still do wonders. It's not a joke to keep it going for 57 years and 24 studio albums under the band name, with a few more solo outings to add. Quite a Tull order, for sure.