The internet went into a frenzy last month when King Crimson guitarist/vocalist Jakko Jakszyk said a new album was in the works. The band’s management doused the excitement a few days later, and now Robert Fripp himself has weighed in.
“As we speak, we're doing a King Crimson studio album,” Jakszyk told Goldmine Magazine during a promo run for his new solo album, Son of Glen. “We've been doing it piecemeal, and then a couple of months ago, the management said, ‘Can we?’” he added.
“So, yeah. I've been recording that with a view to it coming out in some format at some point. But who knows when?”
Guitar Player covered the story, as did countless other news sites. As the story heated up, the band’s management intervened, declaring such talk “premature,” especially given that Robert Fripp is still recovering from the heart attack he suffered earlier this year.
Posting on Facebook to share his latest Upbeat Moments video with his wife, Toyah Wilcox, Fripp shared an exchange he had with his old college friend Gordon Mowlam and guitarist Anthony Garone.
“How’s that new studio album coming along, Bob?” Marlow asked.
“I am not aware of any new studio album,” Fripp replied, before Garone chimed in with, “Robert Fripp, don’t you read the rumors? You’re working on a new album, whether you are aware or not!”
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Fripp punctuated his caption with a laughing-face emoji, clearly seeing the funny side of how his bandmate’s words had snowballed to such massive proportions.
In his statement, band manager David Singleton via DGMLive didn't outright deny that Fripp-led writing was taking place. Rather, he entered the chat to manage fan expectations at a time of such excitement.
Referencing the band's latest three-drummer live lineup, he had said “there is the seed of a new recording. Whether it is an album, whether it sees the light of day, whether it is something else is unknown. As is the outcome of any creative process.
“Yes, recordings have taken place. Getting excited about the possibility of a new album, as has apparently been happening, is somewhat premature. Carts before horses.”
The band’s last studio album was 2003's The Power to Believe (which pretty much describes Crimson's avid fanbase and media reportage). As things stand, Jakszyk — who joined in 2013 to replace Adrian Belew — has featured only on Crimson’s live albums, having joined after his work with the 21st Century Schizoid Band, and on the album A Scarcity of Miracles, which featured Robert Fripp, and Crimson saxophonist, Mel Collins. Songs from that record have since been added to King Crimson’s live sets.
A Jakszyk-fronted Crimson studio album would be big news indeed. But expectations must be tempered in the short term, at least.
In related news, early King Crimson member Peter Giles has reflected on his musical experiments with Fripp and the strange hobby they struck up together.
Steve Vai, meanwhile, who assumed the role of Fripp in the King Crimson adjacent band Beat, has praised the majesty of Adrian Belew’s “underrated” guitar playing.
