Metal Shock Finland's Mohsen Fayyazi has issued an interview with AYREON / STAR ONE mastermind ARJEN LUCASSEN, in which he discusses his upcoming album, Ayreon and his future plans.

When asked about when he wil start Ayreon again, Arjen said: “No idea , because I basically never plan, no idea what I’m going to do next… I think it’s about the time… it’s become harder to invest in Ayreon as you can imagine it’s very expensive to hire all the singers and fly them over here and if my CDs don’t sell anymore, I wont have money anymore, so that’s a little bit of a problem that I forsee with the next Ayreon album.“

You can listen to the interview below:

Arjen will release his new solo album, Lost In The New Real, on April 23rd in Europe, and May 8th in North America via InsideOut.

Tracklisting:

CD1:

'The New Real'

'Pink Beatles In A Purple Zeppelin'

'Parental Procreation Permit'

'When I’m A Hundred Sixty-Four'

'E-Police'

'Don’t Switch Me Off'

'Dr Slumber’s Eternity Home'

'Yellowstone Memorial Day'

'Where Pigs Fly'

'Lost In The New Real'

* Bonus CD Rom section: “Behind The New Real”

CD 2:

'Our Imperfect Race'

'Welcome To The Machine' (PINK FLOYD cover)

'So Is There No God?'

'Veteran Of The Psychic Wars' (BLUE ÖYSTER CULTCover)

'The Social Recluse'

'Battle Of Evermore' (LED ZEPPELIN Cover)

'The Space Hotel'

'Some Other Time' (ALAN PARSONS PROJECT Cover)

'You Have Entered The Reality Zone'

'I’m The Slime' (FRANK ZAPPA Cover)

* Bonus CD Rom section: “The Artwork”

The story of Lost In The New Real follows Mr. L, a twenty-first century man who was cryopreserved at the moment of clinical death from a terminal disease. The album begins as Mr. L is being revived at a point in the distant future, when technology has advanced enough to cure his disease. Mr L finds himself in a world that has drastically changed — to the point that the line between what’s real and what’s not is no longer clear.

Mr. L’s appointed psychological advisor (played by legendary screen actor Rutger Hauer) is tasked with helping him emotionally adapt to this strange new world. The songs on CD1 follow the main character Mr. L’s emotional journey as he is confronted with both serious and comical aspects of the “New Real”, and desperately tries to decide if he can find a meaningful place within it.

CD2 is a mix of songs that are part of the concept but didn’t fit on CD1, and cover songs that are (more or less) related to the concept. As Arjen’s fans have come to expect, informative and humorous ‘behind the scenes’ videos are added to both CDs as CD-rom tracks. This beautiful 2-CD Limited Edition Mediabook is illustrated by the striking artwork of Claudio Bergamin.

Pre-orders at this location.

Check out a trailer below: