DEEP PURPLE have debuted the first single and video for the powerful, fast-paced hard rock tune “Arrogant Boy.” It’s the initial musical statement from SPLAT! the band’s new studio album set for a July 3 release on earMUSIC. The official music video for the track is a live performance clip which premiered last night (May 12) on YouTube. Watch it HERE.
DEEP PURPLE—Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey, and Simon McBride—are currently featured on the cover of Classic Rock Germany, where the magazine highlights “Arrogant Boy” as “an electrifying song in the style of ‘Space Truckin’ or ‘Highway Star,’” adding that it “doesn’t copy these classics; rather, it cleverly varies them.”
“‘Arrogant Boy’ is the story of Billy who couldn’t read or write,” says DEEP PURPLE frontman Gillian. “He is unhappy with things, so he speaks up, and finds a way of irritating, one way or another, the elite. And I can’t think of anything more fun than irritating the elite. It would be a joyous exercise for me every morning after coffee.”
The single arrives one week after DEEP PURPLE announced their new studio album SPLAT! Once again, the band has teamed up with producer Bob Ezrin, continuing a collaboration that has shaped the band’s recent studio albums, all of which reached #1 on the album charts in multiple countries.
On the touring front, DEEP PURPLE have just completed shows in Asia and the band is set to continue touring with a run of European summer dates in June before officially launching the SPLAT! World Tour in North America in August. The upcoming touring schedule includes 86 shows across 28 countries, bringing DEEP PURPLE back to major arenas across Europe in autumn before the year ends with shows in South America in December.
SPLAT! will be released on July 3 on earMUSIC and is available for pre-order in multiple formats including CD, vinyl, and limited editions. Further exclusive fan items are only available on the official SPLAT! shop.
At the heart of SPLAT! is an idea conceived by Ian Gillan. Rather than treating the end as destruction, the album imagines it as transformation: SPLAT! explores the end of humanity not in any crude apocalyptic sense but as a metamorphosis beyond physical existence.
Track listing (CD/2LP):
Side A
Arrogant Boy
Diablo
The Rider
The Lunatic
Side B
The Only Horse In Town
Sacred Land
The Beating Of Wings
Side C
Guilt Trippin’
Scriblin’ Gib’rish
Jessica’s Bra
Side D
Third Call
My New Movie
Splat!
SPLAT! will be available July 3 in multiple formats:
- Limited Box Set, containing:
- 2LP Gatefold (180g)
- 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
- CD Digisleeve
- 3 exclusive 10-inch vinyl records featuring live recordings from the DEEP PURPLE Tour 2024
- Exclusive 7-inch single featuring the bonus track “GUINNESIS” (not included on the studio album and available exclusively in the box set!)
- CD (Digisleeve)
- 2LP Gatefold (black, 180g) + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
- Limited Purple 2LP Gatefold (180g) + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
- Limited Transparent Yellow 2LP (180g) + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
All LP editions include a rich 12-page LP-sized booklet with illustrations and all song lyrics – available exclusively with the first pressing.
Further exclusive items are available via the official artist store, including:
- Limited 2LP Picture Disc + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
- Limited Cassette
- A strictly limited canvas signed by all band members and limited to just 199 copies worldwide
- Additional apparel and merchandise items
Follow DEEP PURPLE
Facebook Instagram YouTube TikTok X
Follow earMUSIC
Facebook Instagram YouTube TikTok X
ABOUT DEEP PURPLE
There simply aren’t enough superlatives to properly acknowledge the contribution DEEP PURPLE has made to rock music. Having sold more than 120 million albums and filled global arenas for decades, there’s little wonder that the respected British radio station Planet Rock named the group the “5th Most Influential Band Ever.” The band were also presented the “Legend Award” at the 2008 World Music Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. DEEP PURPLE truly are “rock royalty.”
With a body of work spanning seven decades, DEEP PURPLE have helped pioneer and define the hard rock genre while progressively moving into new areas, both keeping their sound fresh and attracting new fans to the legions who have remained loyal since the band’s inception. The celebrated MKII line-up of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore was responsible for creating many of the defining rock albums of the early ’70s, including Made in Japan universally accepted as one of the most important and influential live albums of all time.
Known as one of the hardest working bands ever, DEEP PURPLE have continued to release No. 1 albums and tour globally since forming in 1968, with little rest.
DEEP PURPLE have stayed true to their musical roots, drawing from an eclectic mix of styles to create a distinctive sound that defines the band today and, in turn, has created a legacy that very few bands could ever hope to replicate. The band has written and produced so many “classic,” well-known songs that its audience ranges widely in age and background—something the band has readily embraced.
DEEP PURPLE’s recent studio album =1 (2024) followed their worldwide chart-topping albums Whoosh! (2020), inFinite (2017) and NOW What?! (2013). 2026 sees the release of their brand-new album SPLAT! On these albums, DEEP PURPLE joined forces with producer Bob Ezrin, who has worked with the likes of KISS, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed and Alice Cooper.
Furthering their collaboration with Ezrin, in 2021 and during the pandemic the band recorded a collection of cover songs from their own homes (normal for most bands nowadays, revolutionary for a band that records everything together in the studio), creating an eclectic and celebratory history of their roots in music, in the shape of Turning to Crime.
Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey and Simon McBride continue with renewed vitality, pushing the boundaries of hard rock to audiences around the globe, proving that DEEP PURPLE are very much here to stay.