As the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant famously drew from the blues, Celtic, and even Indian musical traditions.

On his latest release, ‘Lullaby and… the Ceaseless Roar’, the veteran artist seeks inspiration in
north Africa.

It is his first album recorded with the Sensational Space Shifters and its eclectic mix of musicians.

The first single ‘Rainbow’ gives a haunting taste of this new, experimental venture.

“The infectious aspects of the rhythm of the song comes from north Africa, that’s what that whole bendir rhythm is all about, and it’s very compelling. We use it quite a lot on stage as a rhythm and an augmentation to our music. But to bring it into those chords, I just felt that I wanted to do something that was somewhere between Roy Orbison and, I suppose, and me,” he says.

Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock-n-roll, 66-year old Plant is famous for his powerful wide vocal range, which has influenced singers such like Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose.

Although some of his best known songs are decades old, he says keeping them sound fresh is always a welcome challenge.

“Well when a song’s been around for 30 or 40 years it has sort of sunk into somebody’s epidermis, if I can use that word. I co-wrote a lot of songs way back, and so my contribution melodically is kind of important from those songs, but I like to try and change the instrumental approach to them to make them blend in with where I’ve been at for the last, more recent years,” says the veteran musician.

Described as “one of his most audacious experiments yet”, ‘Lullaby and… the Ceaseless Roar’ has received positive reviews by music critics.

After Europe, North Africa and Japan this summer, Robert Plant is touring North America, the UK and Ireland in the autumn.