Opeth have released their new album, The last will and testamentwith special attention to the song “§4” featuring legendary Jethro Tull singer and flutist Ian Anderson.
Anderson contributes spoken word and flute to the seven-minute song, which takes listeners on a wild musical journey.
“'§4' is a strange song, written simply by instinct,” Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt said in a press release. “I'm not a smart guy when it comes to writing music. People call us “thinking man's metal”, I think that's ridiculous. I listen to music from so many different genres that it is impossible for me to limit myself to just one genre.”
He continued: “We ended up with a flute solo by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull, which was kind of an accident in a way, because I asked him to do a narration, not a flute. As I was doing the spoken word fragments, he asked me, “Do you need a flute solo?” I was like, 'yes please!', even though I didn't actually have a role for a flute solo! I had to quickly go through the songs in my head before I changed my mind. I had it hooked, of course I was going to find a piece! So he played almost like a common response type flute solo on '§4'.”
Anderson also contributes flute and spoken world on the song “§7,” as well as narration on the songs “§1” and “§2.” Elsewhere on the album, Europe's Joey Tempest lends backing vocals on “§2,” while Åkerfeldt's youngest daughter Mirjam is heard as the disembodied voice on “§1.”
Opeth will embark on a European and UK tour in support of The last will and testament in February, with tickets available here.
Watch the lyric video for the song “§4” and stream it The last will and testament in full on the players below.
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