Whatever Ian Anderson is sprinkling on his porridge is working. Curious Ruminant is the third Jethro Tull album since he resurrected the name for 2022’s The Zealot Gene. Calling that album and its follow-up, 2023’s RökFlöte, a late-career hot streak seems a little unbecoming for a someone as donnish as Anderson, but it suggested there was a renewed vigour or underlying urgency to the 70-something frontman. Or maybe both.
That vigour is evident on the latest release, another great album from a band in the autumn of their career. Its two predecessors presented a relatively tough version of Tull, with some prominent guitar lending them a modern edge. But Curious Ruminant heads off down a different path.
