Deep Purple issue album update

Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover has issued an update on the progress of the band’s twentieth studio album.

The follow-up to 2013’s Now What reunites producer Bob Ezrin with the group and its recording base in Nashville.

Glover writes on Facebook: “We started the next album in Nashville on the 28th January. Thirteen days of pre-production and thirteen days recording in the studio. Lucky thirteen because we have thirteen tracks, all but finished except for vocals. Coincidence or what?

“How many will end up on the album is hard to tell yet…maybe all of them, maybe not. I won’t even begin to describe the music, an impossible job in any case. Suffice to say I’ve been listening to the rough mixes and there’s a smile on my face. Bob Ezrin and the team did their usual superb job.”

The bassist reveals what’s next for the project.

He explains: “The next stage will be Ian Gillan and I spending a week together, honing up on the lyrics before recording vocals in Toronto in April.”

In addition to hitting the studio again next month, Deep Purple will be inducted into the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on April 8.

The event has been riddled with controversy, including word that the current Deep Purple lineup will perform without former members, leaving Ritchie Blackmore planning to skip the ceremony altogether.

Meanwhile, Glenn Hughes recently expressed his desire to play with the group alongside fellow Mark III and Mark IV member David Coverdale.