Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to lead singer Steve Hogarth of legendary prog rockers  Marillion  about the band’s upcoming album ‘An Hour Before it’s Dark’,  Montreal, Canada’s Love affair with the band and his approval with fans as vocalist when the Fish Era ended.

Marillion new album ‘An Hour Before it’s Dark’ will be released March 4, 2022 via earMusic.

When asked about the Love Affair with the band and the city of  Montreal, Canada 
“It comes down to the people of course. There was always a thing and the boys told me about it when I joined the band and we were first touring on ‘Season’s End’, they said oh wait until we get to Montreal cause we will probably do the Spectrum and it will probably be amazing and we did and it was. I can’t put my finger on why that it happened but I can celebrate the fact it does and be grateful. It’s the same in Paris you know I don’t know if it is something to do with a touch of the French spirit and kind of romanticism or passion. It is the same in Quebec City when we play there. There is a kind of heart thing that goes beyond mere excitement, it goes into a commitment and it is beautiful to behold. “

When asked about his quick acceptance into the band when he first joined and replacing Fish
“It was amazing I wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t expecting it anywhere to be honest. I thought it was going to take a while but that first tour just about everywhere we went people watched the first couple of songs with one eye closed and then you can feel this kind of wave of relief and it has always been great, really.”

When asked about the new album and it’s orchestrations
“We had made the with friends (album) with the orchestra, we then toured with the 6 orchestral players and really enjoyed that. We enjoyed having access to those real tones. We got used to working with these classical elements so we hauled them into the studio. “

When asked about how the Pandemic played a role in the lyrics
“I am sort of the opinion that these Pandemics are a direct consequence of the global crisis, in general. The fact that there are now too many human beings on the planet may not be too many human beings on the planet if we lived in a sustainable way but we are not going to. I like to think we are and I am shouting about it but I am not terribly optimistic. I think that these Pandemics or this Pandemic is a harbinger of more serious shit to come, to be honest, if we don’t change our ways. Unfortunately I don’t see any signs of us changing our ways. I read a statistic even after COP 26 (UN 2021 Climate change conference) there was more Brazilian rain forest cut down in January this year than in January last year, so what are any of these things worth? I think the Pandemic and the climate crisis are very closely interrelated, I think one is the cause and the other is the effect. So that is kind of where I was at making this record and  so even though I didn’t want to reference the Pandemic, it was the reality of the life I was living so I could not really express myself honestly without referring to it.”

When asked if fans are still asking the band to play the Fish Era albums or is that era long gone for Marillion Fans
“When we go out and play, when we get email or anything that comes our way, nobody is remotely concerned about those first four albums.”