The 80s are back, and Jefferson Starship are at the wheel

Jefferson Starship have released a video for their first new song in 12 years, It's About Time. It's taken from the band's upcoming EP Mother Of The Sun, which is released on August 21.

It's also the first new music from the band since the death of co-founder Paul Kantner in 2016.

"Paul Kantner was our bandleader and the visionary who kept Jefferson Starship going through so many eras," says singer/guitarist Cathy Richardson.

"He inspired so much about this record, from the messages in the lyrics to the title and album art to the collaborative process of creating music as a band with some of his original muses - Grace, Marty, and Pete. Mother of the Sun is dedicated to PK."

It's About Time was co-written with former Airplane/Starship legend Grace Slick, and combines the shiny, uplifting, earwormy side of the band's 80s hits with the social awareness of their Haight-Asbury years.

"I watched the Women’s March with Grace at her house back in 2017,” Richardson told Rolling Stone. “She said, ‘This is just like the Sixties!’ and I suggested that we write a female empowerment song for the times that encapsulated the movement. A couple of months later, I received three handwritten pages of lyrics from Grace in the mail.

She adds, “It was an incredible gift, not only to collaborate with a legend like Grace Slick, but also, the platform to have the message really be heard, especially in the times we’re in. You can’t help but imagine how different things would be if Hillary Clinton was the president right now."

Also featured in the current lineup of Jefferson Starship are David Freiberg, Donny Baldwin, Chris Smith and Jude Gold, while original Starship member Pete Sears plays bass on three of the tracks on Mother Of The Sun.

Mother of the Sun Tracklist

It's About Time
What Are We Waiting For?
Setting Sun
Runaway Again
Embryonic Journey'
Don't Be Sad Anymore
What Are We Waiting For? (Extended version)

Jefferson Airplane - Mother Of The Son — (Image credit: Golden Robot Records)

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.