Deep Purple announce ‘Splat!’, their 24th studio album, out July 3 via earMUSIC, calling it their heaviest record in years alongside an 86-date world tour
Deep Purple are not slowing down. On May 10, the legendary hard rock outfit announced ‘Splat!’, their 24th studio album, set for release on July 3 via earMUSIC. The announcement came alongside confirmation of an 86-date world tour spanning three continents, including a headline appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall on November 25. For a band that has sold over 120 million albums since forming in 1968, the move still lands with genuine weight.
Frontman Ian Gillan has been direct about what this record means to him and the band. “I have to say, now we are very much back in with material that is compatible with ‘Highway Star’, ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Lazy’, the dynamics, the balance, and the fun of the music we made from ’69 to ’73,” he said in a statement. “Where we are now with this incarnation of Deep Purple feels very much like a very ‘now’ version of Deep Purple as it was in the seventies.” That is not a casual claim. For a band built on that particular era’s reputation, it is a direct promise to the fanbase.
The Heaviest Deep Purple Record in Years, Produced Again by Bob Ezrin
‘Splat!’ reunites the band with producer Bob Ezrin, whose credits span KISS, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, and Alice Cooper. Notably, this marks Ezrin’s sixth consecutive collaboration with Deep Purple, a partnership that began with 2013’s ‘Now What?!’ and has continued through ‘inFinite’ (2017), ‘Whoosh!’ (2020), and 2024’s ‘=1’. The album was recorded live in the studio, the method Deep Purple have preferred throughout their career, and the result is being described as their most muscular effort in several years.
The conceptual core of the record comes from Gillan himself. Rather than staging a conventional hard rock statement, ‘Splat!’ takes on the end of humanity as its subject, but with an unexpected angle. The album frames that end not as destruction but as transformation, a metamorphosis beyond physical existence. It is the kind of philosophical reach that few bands in this space would attempt, and it gives the record a seriousness of purpose beyond the title’s playful provocation.
The 13-track album includes songs titled ‘Arrogant Boy’, ‘Diablo’, ‘Sacred Land’, and the closing title track. A limited-edition box set will include a 12-page booklet, three exclusive 10″ vinyl records featuring live recordings from the band’s 2024 tour, and an exclusive 7″ featuring bonus track ‘GUINNESIS’.
Ian Gillan, a World Tour, and the Stakes of a 58-Year Legacy
The timing of this announcement carries an additional layer of significance. Last year, Gillan revealed publicly that he has lost 70 per cent of his vision, retaining only 30 per cent sight while continuing to adapt and perform. “You find a way. You adapt,” he said. That context makes the scale of the current undertaking, a 24th studio album and a near-90-date global tour, feel remarkable rather than routine.
The 2026 touring schedule, billed partly as the “Mad in Europe” run, opens in Finland on June 11, passes through Hellfest in France, sweeps across North America from August through September with support from Kansas, and concludes in Mexico City on December 19. The current lineup of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey, and guitarist Simon McBride will carry ‘Splat!’ to audiences across 28 countries.
Deep Purple were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. More than five decades later, they are still trying to earn it.
