The title of Jon Anderson’s new solo album, True, sounds like a statement of intent in an age of disinformation. “As I was writing the lyrics, I kept popping up with ‘true’ this or ‘true’ that,” says the former Yes singer. “One song is called True Messenger. It comes from my time in Jamaica years and years ago, hanging out with Rastafarian characters. Everything they said was ‘true’: ‘It’s true, man.’ ‘Don’t worry, Jon, it’s true.’”
Few would have one of prog’s founding fathers down as the sort of person who’d be at home rubbing shoulders with a bunch of Rastas in Jamaica, but apparently that was fairly standard behaviour back in the day. “Oh no, being there was wonderful,” he says. “I was a huge Bob Marley fan. I saw him at the Rainbow Theatre [in London]. I was in shock at how great it sounded, how great it all was. The audience adored him. And Jamaica, it’s cool. You’ve got to take that mushroom stuff and go up into the Blue Mountains there and channel your higher self.”
