Robert Plant, scraggly-hair icon and eardrum-busting Led Zeppelin frontman, is back with his latest solo effort Carry Fire. Earlier this fall, he debuted the singles “The May Queen” and “Bones of Saints,” as well as “Bluebirds Over the Mountains,” a duet with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. This is his 11th solo record and follows 2014’s Lullaby And… the Ceaseless River, recorded with his band The Sensational Shape Shifters.
You won’t hear Plant’s impossibly high-pitched wails of old on this record—decades of challenging the limits of the human vocal register will tire even the most indefatigable rock icon—but his signature folk mysticism and global influences are easily found, particularly on the title track. Plant also explores Appalachian roots music and a more stripped-down take on rural blues.
Plant will be on tour starting in February. Listen to Carry Fire below.
