Steve Vai has just announced his new studio album will hit the shelves on January 28, 2022. Inviolate – the Grammy Award-winning guitarist’s tenth studio album – will initially be available on digital formats with 180-gram black LP and web exclusive marble LP vinyl releases to follow on March 18, 2022.
Speaking of his new release, Vai commented, “An inviolate inspiration is one that comes to you completely pure. It appears almost in its completeness, and there’s a recognition of it as being right for you – perfectly right for you. There’s no excuses in it. There's no fantasy in it. There's just a recognition of ‘yes.’ And then you capture that in a way that’s authentic to your unique creativity. Hopefully, that’s what I’ve done with this record.”
Vai has provided us with a glimpse of what to expect with his new music video “Little Pretty.”
Described as a “dark-toned fusion-funk workout” in today’s press release and recorded mostly using a Gretsch hollowbody fans can expect something unusual from Vai this time around. Certainly, a Gretsch hollowbody is a far cry from the Ibanez JEM axes he’s long been synonymous with. “I’d always just look at it and go, ‘One day I’m going to play you’,” says Vai. Alas, it appears that day has finally come!
As anyone who has followed Vai’s decades-long career knows, expecting the unexpected has always been par for the course. A “stunt guitar” extraordinaire since stepping into the major league with Frank Zappa as a teenager in the late ‘70s, Vai has consistently invented and reinvented contemporary electric guitar technique.
And with Inviolate touted as being Vai's “most focused, streamlined and perhaps invigorating music in years,” we’re looking forward to hearing what this next instalment of guitar wizardry brings.
“It’s very ‘Vai,’ whatever that means,” commented the virtuoso. “Someone else might be better than me at explaining what that is. But it’s just very honest music. Because a lot of my records, they're long and there's a lot of concepts and playing around with stories. This one has none of that. This is nine pretty dense all-instrumental compositions that I wanted to capture and record so I could get out there and play them live for people.”
Pre-order Inviolate (Favored Nations/Mascot Label Group) here.
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