LEGENDARY prog pioneer Ian Anderson has announced that a new studio album will be released in conjunction with his 2014 UK tour.

Homo Erraticus will be out on April 14 on the artist’s own label imprint Calliandra Records in conjunction with Kscope.

During the tour, which calls in at Southampton’s Guildhall on April 29, Homo Erraticus will be performed in its entirety followed by a selection of Tull classics updated with video and theatrics.

In 1972 Jethro Tull released iconic concept album Thick As A Brick, based on a poem by child prodigy Gerald Bostock; in 2012, as fans wondered what happened to Bostock, Ian Anderson explored the different paths his life might have taken in Thick As A Brick 2. With Homo Erraticus enfant prodigy Gerald is back for real.

Following a 40 years’ political career, Bostock reunited with Anderson taking the role of tour manager on a string of shows. ‘Homo Erraticus’ marks his return to songwriting, and it’s based on an unpublished manuscript by amateur historian Ernest T. Parritt (1865-1928).

In Homo Erraticus Parritt examines key events of British history with a string of prophecies stretching to the current day and the future; visions of past lives caused by the delirium of malaria generate the characters through whose eyes the stories are told, including a nomadic Neolithic settler, an iron Age blacksmith, a Christian monk, a turnpike innkeeper and even Prince Albert.

Tickets are available from the box office on 023 8063 2601. Ian Anderson also appears at Brighton Dome on April 28 and Salisbury City Hall on May 1.