Marillion have revealed more details about their upcoming album

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The follow-up to FEAR is described by Marillion as sounding "very positive" so far

Marillion Zoom meeting December 2020
(Image credit: Marillion)

Marillion have given fans more details about their upcoming 19th album. In a YouTube video posted on December 9, bassist Pete Trewavas described the follow-up to 2016's FEAR as so far sounding "very positive".

The band began work on their as yet untitled record several years ago, with keyboard player Mark Kelly revealing: "Since the lockdown we've been intensively jamming for an hour a day, sometimes two, but we've got to the stage where we've arranged quite a few of those jams into about 30-35 different things. 

"Over the last few days, we've selected our 10 favourites, each of us in secret, and we've shared it all with Mike [producer Michael Hunter], and then from that he's going to say, 'Right, okay, these are the things that we all get excited about and we're all going to work on over the next few months that will hopefully take shape as an album."

Although the exact direction of the music is yet to be determined, guitar player Steve Rothery revealed, "It's quite diverse in terms of the styles that we've got on here." He described it the structure as sounding more like Afraid Of Sunlight than FEAR so far.

However singer Steve 'H" Hogarth told fans that the lyrics won't be as angry as FEAR. "I did set out deliberately to try and not write anything about the pandemic or about what it's done to all of us because I just figured that every other artist on Earth is doing that now. By the time we get this record out, even if it's not the last thing anyone wants to hear now, it certainly will be by the time we get this album out so I was avoiding it at all costs. 

"Having said that, I found it crept in; I just couldn't stop it. I'm writing about how I feel, what I see in the world – which is what I've always written about – so I found it creeping in against my will so there will be references in it but I think you'll have to look for them. To make an honest statement in 2020 about anything without it creeping in would be dishonest because it's in the back of all of our minds."

Although the band are unable to perform their usual Christmas concert due to current COVID-19 restrictions, Hogarth has announced he will be taking part in an H Natural livestream on December 19 at 7pm UK time. Tickets can be purchased via the Marillion website.