Carry Fire, Robert Plant's eleventh solo album and first full-length since 2014's acclaimed Lullaby and The Ceaseless Roar, was produced by Plant in the west of England and Wales, at Top Cat studio in Box, Wiltshire with additional recordings at Real World and Rockfield studios. As with Lullaby, Plant is accompanied by The Sensational Space Shifters: John Baggott on keyboards, moog, loops, percussion, drums, brass arrangement, t'bal, snare drum, slide guitar, piano, electric piano, bendir; Justin Adams on guitar, acoustic guitar, oud, E-bow quartet, percussion, snare drum, tambourine; Dave Smith on bendir, tambourine, djembe, drum kit; and Liam "Skin" Tyson on dobro, guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, twelve-string.
Plant and the Space Shifters are also joined on Carry Fire by a number of special guests. Chrissie Hynde joins Plant on the duet "Bluebirds Over The Mountain" (written by rockabilly legend Ersel Hickey and later recorded by both Richie Valens and The Beach Boys). And Albanian cellist Redi Hasa performs on three tracks, as does the celebrated Seth Lakeman on viola and fiddle.
Plant and the band spent two years on the road together supporting Lullaby, their unique sound and vision ultimately evolving into something even more creative and powerful. The songs on Carry Fire meld unusual rhythms with naturalism and smoldering power. "It's about intention, I respect and relish my past works but each time I feel the lure and incentive to create new work," he notes. "I must mix old with new. Consequently the whole impetus of the band has moved on its axis somewhat, the new sound and different space giving way to exciting and dramatic landscapes of mood, melody and instrumentation."
 
Tracklist:
 
The May Queen
New World....
Season's Song
Dance With You Tonight
Carving Up the World Again...A Wall and Not A Fence
A Way With Words
Carry Fire
Bones of Saints
Keep It Hid
Bluebirds Over the Mountain
Heaven Sent