The recent announcement of Primus’ first release in six years leaves only one certainty: Claypool’s been busy. The album comes nipping at the heel’s of Claypool’s recent stint with Sean Lennon in their project, The Claypool Lennon Delirium. However, while Claypool spends his summers in The Delirium, so to speak, Primus is his nine to five. Though Claypool considered doing the project with Lennon, he ultimately decided to go with his old group, who were immediately receptive to the proposition.The Desaturating Seven is an interesting concept for an album inspired by a favorite children’s story of Claypool’s, “The Rainbow Goblins,” by Ul De Rico. Primus released a song, “The Seven,” today.

“The dark imagery and beauty of the art struck me immediately and I thought, ‘this would make good fodder for a piece of music.’ The use of color and darkness both in the paintings and the writing was compelling and now, near two decades later, the metaphor of greed, gluttony and deceit vs unity of the masses is eerily relevant. I brought the notion to the Primus guys and they were all for it. Plus, I figured it’s about time someone brought ‘Goblin Rock’ back to the fold.”

“The Primus guys,” standing alongside Claypool, Tim Alexander and Larry LaLonde, are all from the band’s original lineup, and haven’t released anything as a trio since 1995. Primus as an entity has been quiet for six of those twenty-two years. Yes, that is a long time, but people like Claypool don’t jump back into the ring unless they have good reason.

The book, originally published in the seventies, was introduced to Claypool by his wife. He had always intended to use the story and its artwork for inspiration.

“I remember being incredibly impressed with the artwork and the storyline and the content and the message,” Claypool told Rolling Stone. “As I’m getting older, I’m realizing I need to start knocking some of these things off my list. So we did the Willy Wonka soundtrack a couple years back, and this was a project I wanted to do.”

Claypool says the book’s artwork is central to his inspiration. Music and visual art are often paired, and one can inspire the other. Claypool has dabbled in musical adaptation before, with his Willy Wonka soundtrack. However, The Desaturating Seven, is not so much an adaptation as much as an homage, a musical realization to the book’s logical end.

Track List:

1. “The Valley”
2. “The Seven”
3. “The Trek”
4. “The Scheme”
5. “The Dream”
6. “The Storm”
7. “The Ends?”

Primus 2017 Tour Dates:

October 20 – San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Gardens
October 21 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Lawn
October 22 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live
October 24 – Nashville, TN @ War Memorial
October 25 – Richmond, VA @ The National
October 27 – Albany, NY @ Palace Theater
October 28 – Washington D.C. @ The Anthem
October 29 – Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theater
October 31 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
November 2 – Akron, OH @ Goodyear Theater
November 3 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Taft Theater
November 4 – Louisville, KY @ Palace Theater
November 5 – St. Louis, MO @ Peabody Theater
November 7 – Knoxville, TN @ Tennessee Theater
November 9 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
November 10 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Hotel
November 11 – Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
November 13 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre
December 29, 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern

Photography Credit: Mary Watson