Deep Purple released the first song, "Portable Door," from their upcoming album, =1.
You can listen to the track below, which comes with a music video, as well as view the album's full track listing. It will be released on July 19.
=1 once again features Bob Ezrin as producer, but marks the first time guitarist Simon McBride, who officially joined the band in 2022, has played on a Deep Purple album. A previous press release noted that the LP "embodies the essence and attitude of their 1970s incarnation possibly more than any other album in recent memory."
"It's a great thing to be part of Deep Purple," McBride told El Expreso Del Rock. "The name Deep Purple is just iconic, and I'm very lucky that I can put my name through that, as being a part of it. But, yeah, the guys are great, and all the crew. It's like a big family on the road. And we all have a lot of fun and we all get on very well."
According to McBride, "Portable Door" was written in one of the first sessions Deep Purple did for =1, and "and literally came together in 5 or 10 minutes."
"Throughout Deep Purple's history, our best songs have always been those that were written in no time at all," frontman Ian Gillan added. "We've played what felt good and developed songs as we have always done."
Deep Purple's Touring Plans
Deep Purple will presumably showcase their new material on tour this year. For the first half of the summer, they'll play shows in the U.K. and Europe, and then return to the U.S to begin a North American tour with Yes that starts Aug. 14 in Hollywood, Florida.
Deep Purple, '=1' Track Listing 1. "Show Me" 2. "A Bit on the Side" 3. "Sharp Shooter" 4. "Portable Door" 5. "Old-Fangled Thing" 6. "If I Were You" 7. "Pictures of You" 8. "I'm Saying Nothin'" 9. "Lazy Sod" 10. "Now You're Talkin'" 11. "No Money to Burn" 12. "I'll Catch You" 13. "Bleeding Obvious"
