Deep Purple have unveiled "Guilt Trippin'," the latest single from their upcoming album SPLAT!, and the song comes with a premise few bands would attempt: God and Charles Darwin sharing a drink in a pub while reflecting on how life on Earth has not quite gone according to plan.

The track imagines God and Charles Darwin sharing a drink in a pub, reflecting on how life on Earth has not exactly gone according to plan, according to press material accompanying the release. The accompanying video follows a fly and a sycamore-seed spaceship through what Deep Purple describe as the increasingly absurd and dreamlike world of SPLAT!.

The song is already drawing praise from fans impressed by the band's willingness to explore new territory nearly six decades into its career.

"No recycled riffs but fresh new music going in unexpected directions. This band has the balls to pull it off," one YouTube commenter wrote.

Another listener described the track as "progressive hard rock from fathers of the genre," adding that the band had returned to being "a British hard rock band again," echoing recent comments from singer Ian Gillan about Deep Purple's current direction.

Gillan also revealed that the song began in unusually spontaneous fashion.

"The song starts, and I'm in the studio. I don't have any words for it yet. So I just start screaming. It was the pure joy of yelling it," Gillan said. "I vowed when I was 40 that I'd stop screaming by the time I was 60. Now I'm looking back and thinking, 'Whatever happened to that?' So we'll give it a go."

With a song built around an imaginary pub conversation between God and Darwin, and a vocal performance fueled by what Gillan calls the "pure joy" of screaming, "Guilt Trippin'" suggests Deep Purple are still finding fresh ways to surprise listeners as they approach the release of SPLAT! on July 3.

Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and chief editor of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.