Clockwork Angels is the upcoming 19th full-length studio album by Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Rush

Rush (band)

Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

. Writing for the album began in January and February 2010. This was followed by early recording sessions during the spring of 2010. The first single from the album, "Caravan

Caravan (Rush song)

"Caravan" is the first single from Rush's upcoming album, Clockwork Angels. It was released to radio stations and saw digital release on June 1, 2010, on CD via mail order later that month, and as a 7" vinyl record for Record Store Day 2011, with a limited printing of 3000 units. The B-side is an...

," backed with the B-side "BU2B," (short for "Brought Up To Believe") was released to radio stations and made available for digital download on June 1, 2010. The album will be released internationally by Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...

, sister of the band's longtime label outside Canada, Atlantic.

Background

One of the earliest indications that the band would begin working on new studio material came from an interview with guitarist Alex Lifeson

Alex Lifeson

Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

 in February 2009. At this time he speculated that Nick Raskulinecz

Nick Raskulinecz

Nick Raskulinecz is a Grammy-winning American record producer. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee.-Production career:Raskulinecz is from the Bearden area of Knoxville, Tennessee. He first produced and recorded bands in Knoxville on a 8-track recorder that his grandfather bought for him...

, who worked with the band on their previous album Snakes & Arrows

Snakes & Arrows

Snakes & Arrows is the 18th full-length studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush. Co-produced by Nick Raskulinecz, it is Rush's first studio outing since 2004's Feedback, and their first complete studio album since Vapor Trails in 2002...

, would be invited to return as co-producer. At the same time, he denied that the band would create a "concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

".

On March 19, 2010, the CBC posted a video interview with Geddy Lee

Geddy Lee

Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...

 and Lifeson, which contained the first definitive announcement by the members of Rush. During the interview, Lee was quoted as saying "... Just about a month and a half ago we had no songs. And now we've been writing and now we've got about six songs that we just love...". On March 26, 2010, in an interview with The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...

, Lifeson reconfirmed that the band had already written a half-dozen songs and that there was the potential for two supporting tours, one planned for Summer 2010 and a more extensive tour planned for Summer 2011. While still uncertain of exactly how and when the new material would be released, he projected a tentative Spring 2011 release date. By late March 2010, Neil Peart

Neil Peart

Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...

 said that the band had about five songs completed and that American producer Nick Raskulinecz had returned as co-producer.

In late August, Lifeson remarked that an additional three songs were almost complete and that the album is turning out to be very musically diverse. In particular, Lifeson refers to the nearly finished title track "Clockwork Angels" as an "epic song" and a "multi-parted piece". He describes it as "very dynamic".

In January 2011, Lifeson told in an interview with Guitarist Magazine that, due to the extension of the Time Machine Tour

Time Machine Tour

The Time Machine Tour was a concert tour by the Canadian rock band Rush that began on June 29, 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and ended July 2, 2011 at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington...

, the release of the album will be delayed. Writing the final 2 or 3 songs required will resume in early 2011, with recording resuming after summer. Rush lyricist/drummer Neil Peart said of the still in-work album in May 2011, "I intend it to be my highest achievement lyrically and drumming wise."

Singles

Information
"Caravan Caravan (Rush song) "Caravan" is the first single from Rush's upcoming album, Clockwork Angels. It was released to radio stations and saw digital release on June 1, 2010, on CD via mail order later that month, and as a 7" vinyl record for Record Store Day 2011, with a limited printing of 3000 units. The B-side is an... " 5:40 Released: June 1, 2010 Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart Produced by: Rush & Nick Raskulinecz Nick Raskulinecz Nick Raskulinecz is a Grammy-winning American record producer. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee.-Production career:Raskulinecz is from the Bearden area of Knoxville, Tennessee. He first produced and recorded bands in Knoxville on a 8-track recorder that his grandfather bought for him... Chart positions: #38 US Mainstream Rock
"BU2B" 4:22 Released: June 1, 2010 Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart Produced by: Rush & Nick Raskulinecz Nick Raskulinecz Nick Raskulinecz is a Grammy-winning American record producer. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee.-Production career:Raskulinecz is from the Bearden area of Knoxville, Tennessee. He first produced and recorded bands in Knoxville on a 8-track recorder that his grandfather bought for him...