HOPE

HOPE is the eighteenth studio album by The Flower Kings, the Swedish progressive rock band that grew out of the group Roine Stolt formed to take his 1994 solo album The Flower King on the road. Hasse Fröberg (vocals, guitar) and Michael Stolt, Roine's brother, on bass were both in that first touring band; keyboard player Lalle Larsson and drummer Mirko DeMaio complete the line-up, and the credits of both preview tracks add Jannica Lund on vocals. Following LOVE from 2025, the record is framed by two long suites: "World Spinning - The Final Curtain" opens it at more than eighteen minutes and "The Gods of Rome" closes it at nearly half an hour, with "In a World of Fools" and "Mars & Minerva" in between. Stolt and Larsson are its main writers. The closing suite began as orchestral ideas more than ten years old and came near to serving instead as the basis for another record by Anderson/Stolt, Stolt's partnership with Jon Anderson; Stolt says the ancient Rome of its lyrics is a metaphor for the power play of today. InsideOutMusic's limited CD and Blu-ray digipak carries Rich Mouser's Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes, which the label calls a first for the band, as well as 24-bit stereo mixes; a standard CD, a gatefold double LP and a ten-track digital album that divides the suites into parts complete the set. The Japanese edition from Sony Music Labels, SICP-31886, is a four-track Blu-spec CD2 at JPY 3,300 including tax, with liner notes, lyrics and translations and no bonus track, and it shares the international date, 23 October 2026. InsideOutMusic's YouTube channel posted the official video for "In a World of Fools" on 14 August 2026 and official audio of "The Gods of Rome, Pt. 2" on 24 September.