Pendragon will release a brand new album, Love Over Fear, in February 2020.
The new album will be released as a special edition, coming in a hardback book measuring 285mm x 285mm (like the band's recently released First 40 Years) and containing 3 CDs featuring the main album, an acoustic version with orchestral and extended versions and an instrumental version of the album. A standard digi-pack and vinyl release will follow. The artwork has been supplied by local Cornwall artists Liz Saddington.
"The idea has been to rebel against the throwaway culture and instant gratification of the Spotifys of this world and create an actual thing with proper artwork that you can browse through by way of a hardback book nearly the size of a vinyl album sleeve and an album that contains 65 minutes of uplifting and melodic music," Nick Barrett tells Prog. "Something you can get lost in... Damn it - something beautiful again!"
Love Over Fear was recorded at Thin Ice in Surrey and Sharlands Barn in Cornwall and produced by Barrett and Karl Groom. Musically the new album looks to the band's mid-90s period for inspiration.
"I've used the Paintbox, Breaking The Spell style of format in the arrangements and wanted to go back to meaningful guitar solos and use sounds similar to albums that I loved in the 70s, so there are tons of 12 string guitar sections, mellotron strings and very melodic keyboard parts," explains Barrett. "But also something very new for Pendragon, a couple of what I feel are the best vocal performances I have ever done on two emotive piano/vocal songs called Starfish And The Moon and Whirlwind. There is also a rough and tumble traditional Irish type rock song called 360 Degrees which was inspired by moving to Cornwall, it's very Celtic and has Zoe Devenish on fiddle. I can see it becoming our new Nostradamus!"
The full Love Over Fear tracklisting is:
1. Everything
2. Starfish And The Moon
3. Truth And Lies
4. 360 Degrees
5. Soul And The Sea
6. Eternal Light
7. Water
8. Whirlwind
9. Who Really Are We?
10. Afraid Of Everything
Pendragon will undertake a lengthy world tour starting in February in support of Love Over Fear, which includes a headline slot at next year's Winter's End Festival. The band have added two new Canadian dates for May. They will play:
Montreal Theatre Plaza - May 8
Quebec Theatre de la Cite Universitaire - 9
Pre-orders for the new album begin on December 1 from the Pendragon website.
