Basically nobody expected a new studio album from Procol Harum any more. The last recordings were released with "The Well's On Fire" a long time ago, in the year 2003. Now "Novum", which actually comes up with some innovations: organist Matthew Fisher and lyricist Keith Reid are two original members; for the first time all Procol-Harum-musicians are involved in the songwriting; Urgestein Pete Brown is responsible for the lyrics. eclipsed spoke with singer and pianist Gary Brooker about the surprising sign of life English prog pioneers and looked back with him on 50 years of band history.
eclipsed: Of course the anniversary of Procol Harum is a wonderful occasion for a new studio album. But why have you waited so long for it anyway?
Gary Brooker: We didn't realize it for a long time. In addition, there was a major interruption after 2003. We had several court hearings [Matthew Fisher sued for copyrights and royalties on the hit "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" in 2005 and got the final verdict in 2009]. It took a long time. With this the inspiration went away.
eclipsed: Are you still in contact with Matthew Fisher despite the litigation?
Brooker: I wonder why I should be
eclipsed: What's the deal with the album title "Novum"?
Brooker: Well, of course Procol Harum has been around for fifty years. In the current line-up [alongside Brooker Geoff Whitehorn (guit), Josh Phillips (org), Geoff Dunn (dr) and Matt Pegg (b)] we've been playing live for ten years, but this was actually our first time together in the studio. We also wrote most of the songs in the team instead of just me together with a lyricist. That was new. Pete Brown now writes the lyrics. Hey, he's not new, he's old! (laughs) Then a new producer, Dennis Weinreich. The name "Novum" comes from the Latin as probably also our name Procol Harum. Hopefully the sound is still typical Procol Harum, but we look into the future, not into the past.
