The Flower Kings are about to release HOPE, their 18th studio album, on October 23rd, 2026 via InsideOutMusic, and it marks a return to the side-long epic: the record opens with the 18-minute “World Spinning – The Final Curtain” and closes with the nearly 30-minute “The Gods of Rome.”
Our own Mladen caught up with bassist Michael Stolt to talk about how the band writes and records so much music in so little time, what it was like rejoining The Flower Kings after more than two decades away, the accordion and violin guests that color the new record, Kevin Sloan‘s artwork, the ’70s bands that shaped their sound, and when fans can expect to see the band back on stage.
Watch the full conversation below:
Prefer to read? Here’s the full interview, lightly edited for clarity:
HOPE is out October 23rd on InsideOutMusic. Pre-order and stream it here: https://theflowerkings.lnk.to/HOPE-Album
Mladen: Hello, everybody. Mladen here from Lots of Muzik, and I’m sitting here today with Michael Stolt from The Flower Kings. Welcome, sir.
Michael Stolt: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Mladen: It is great to have you. We have some really exciting things to talk about. This is worth celebrating, right? This is the 18th studio record by The Flower Kings. It is called Hope, and it is out October 23rd on Inside Out. It is also the follow-up record to last year’s Love. So right from the get-go, I’m wondering if there is a conceptual connection between these two records given the similar album titles. Can you tell us anything about it?
Michael Stolt: Yeah, a little bit, sort of. But let’s see what happens. There might be a third. (laughs)
Mladen: It might be another part and make it a trilogy, right?
Michael Stolt: Yeah.
Mladen: We’ll see how it develops. This is basically the fourth album that has been released since you rejoined the group in 2022. A couple of things I wanted to ask you about that. Let’s just go back a little bit. By Royal Decree came out in 2022 when you rejoined. Then there was Look at You Now, Love, and now Hope. These are four records within basically four and a half years.
Michael Stolt: Actually, I also play on Waiting for Miracles. A couple of songs.
Mladen: Oh, you did? Right. That was also fairly recently, 2019, I believe?
Michael Stolt: Mm, yeah, probably.
Mladen: What I’m getting at is this is an extraordinary amount of music to put out within such a short period of time. So what I’m wondering is not necessarily what the secret to the prolificness is, but rather the exact process. Are you guys just old-school jamming in the studio all the time, or is it basically Roine and Hasse contributing demos, demoing out songs? How does it work?
Michael Stolt: Depends on what album we’re talking about, but I think the last two albums, Hope and Love, we kind of collected all the band members’ demos and then picked the songs that we wanted to work with. And I think maybe Look at You Now, same thing. I wrote a couple of songs on Look at You Now, and I wrote one song on the last one. And on the upcoming album, it’s mainly Roine and Lalle Larsson who wrote the music. And then Hasse wrote some lyrics. I don’t know exactly what, but basically, that’s how it is. We don’t meet up in the studio and jam and create all the albums. We have songs that we start working with when the whole band feels like, “Oh, this is worth doing.”
Mladen: Right. Someone brings in a couple of ideas and you go, “Okay, let’s make a song out of this.” It’s not necessarily an idea that comes up in the studio and then you jam around that.
Michael Stolt: No, but as it moves along, it can change. I mean, we add something or we take something away that feels not as good as it felt on the demo. But the big difference with the new album is that we actually have two epics on it. (laughs) The Gods of Rome is almost 30 minutes, and I think the other one that Lalle wrote is just under 20 something.
Mladen: Final Curtain is about 20 minutes, right?
Michael Stolt: Yeah.
Mladen: I honestly couldn’t imagine such a lengthy composition coming out of a jam session. It basically needs to come out of several different ideas and then you string them together. That’s what I imagine.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, yeah. If you speak to the guys that made these major long songs in the ’70s, it’s the same thing. I mean, if you look at Supper’s Ready or any of those, all the Yes epics, there are several ideas marched together.
Mladen: Right. The guys in Yes would all the time talk about, okay, Rick Wakeman brought in this idea, then Steve Howe brought this idea. And then all of a sudden, all of them are included in one single composition. It’s not like three different songs from three different ideas, right? So it’s basically the same approach with the more recent bands as well.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, at least for The Flower Kings. I think Final Curtain is a very good example of that because, from the beginning, the first part that I heard of it was instrumental. And then Hasse said, “Maybe we should add some vocals on it.” And he came up with words and melodies and all that. So yeah, that’s how it works. As long as it’s fun, we do it. (laughs)
Mladen: Oh, absolutely. Those vocals really add a special something to that first piece of music on Final Curtain. I also wanted to ask you about your approach to the band nowadays compared to the ’90s, because there was quite a gap in the meantime. Of course, Jonas Reingold played in the meantime, and you guys also share some credits on Waiting for Miracles, I believe. I sort of wonder, did you get back into the band feeling, “Oh, we just picked up where we left off,” or was it like, “Oh, so much time has passed, it’s a different band and a different thing”?
Michael Stolt: I would say a little bit of both, because I played with Roine and Hasse for a long time back in the ’90s. And then there were two new members, Mirko DeMaio and Zach Kamins, when I came back. So obviously it was kind of a new thing, but it’s the same band. The first shows we did were mainly old songs. But I can admit that it was a bit stressful to get back into it. At that point, I hadn’t been playing live for some years, so I needed to get into it. But, you know, it’s back there somewhere. (laughs)
Mladen: Right. What was difficult? Was it the touring schedule, just basically going out on stage, or performing these enormous pieces of music?
Michael Stolt: When I came back, you mean?
Mladen: Right. What was the challenge?
Michael Stolt: I don’t know what to answer to that. I always loved touring, but for many years, the reason I couldn’t tour with The Flower Kings, and I think I left the band in ’99 or something, was that I was doing other things in the music industry that I couldn’t combine with touring. So that’s how it came about. But I always loved touring because there’s something special when you go out and tour. You play shows and you meet the audience and you meet your fans. And a lot of people that come to the shows have been fans for a long time. I mean, some of them, even when I was in the band the first time. So it was kind of a family reunion, sort of. (laughs)
Mladen: I can also imagine people approach you and go, “I saw you with the band in, like, ’98, ’99. That was great.”
Michael Stolt: Yeah. (laughs) It’s funny because sometimes people bring up memories or things that happened back then that I don’t even remember. (laughs) But it’s great. I think we did not that many shows the first years I came back, but in 2023 we did quite a massive tour in Europe. And what happened then was Lalle had come into the band as a full member. And as always, in every band, you need to play a lot to glue it together. So that’s what we did.
Mladen: Exactly.
Michael Stolt: So nowadays, I mean, we played only one festival this summer. And since Lalle is out touring with Steve Hackett, we didn’t have a possibility to rehearse. So we just met up at the festival and played. And it sounded really good.
Mladen: Well, with the amount of experience that you guys have, you can basically go out on stage and just knock it out of the park.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. Nowadays, we can do that, but in the beginning, we needed to adjust to each other and find a way to do it. When I came back, Jonas is a brilliant bass player, but I didn’t want to copy what he did. So I tried to find my way back to the way I played back in the day. And then Mirko has to understand and adjust. It takes a little time sometimes. But now it feels great. And I can honestly say that there’s a great vibe in the band. I’ve been in this business for 45 years or something, and the vibe in the band now is one of the better that I’ve ever felt in a band. I can’t speak for the others, but I have a strong feeling that they would say the same.
Mladen: That’s amazing to hear. Well, this vibe comes across when you listen to the music. I sort of wanted to ask you about the vibe of the record because I was listening to it this week. It strikes me, this sense of relaxation and dreaminess. It’s also become part of your signature sound, so to speak. So where does this Zen-like mood come from? I don’t know if that is a fair assessment, but what do you think?
Michael Stolt: Yeah. Sometimes we talk about this in the band. I think, you know, we all get older and we don’t feel that we have to prove anything anymore. When I go in the studio or on stage, I feel no stress that I have to be someone showing off something. And that is great in a band. I mean, we have, as you know, two brilliant players, guitar and keyboard, that can do everything. So basically, we have to back that up. And it would be easy to play a little too much on the bass or on drums or whatever. That’s also the feeling that I have. It sounds and it feels like a band. If it’s a guitar solo, we back the guitar.
Mladen: Yeah. Make no mistake, it’s still an incredibly ambitious record, but there is a sense of relaxedness and just your enjoyment.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, sure. And, you know, I’ve been working a lot with harmonizing notes. It’s not just root notes on the bass. It’s a lot of harmonizing stuff, and it’s always been like that in The Flower Kings, both in the ’90s when I was in the band and with Jonas in the band. It’s kind of in the nature of this genre. If you listen to Yes, Chris Squire played a lot of harmonizing stuff.
Mladen: Yeah, he absolutely did. I also wanted to ask you about the two epic compositions that you mentioned. Basically, Final Curtain opens the record and The Gods of Rome closes it. The record is bookended by these two large pieces of music. And I’m not sure if I would call them epic songs. I’d rather call them epic suites, because sometimes an epic song is released as a single track, like a 30-minute track, and sometimes an epic composition is split into different tracks and it’s more of a suite. As prog nerds really like to nerd out on that, I’m also wondering about the decision-making. How do you decide, “Okay, this epic piece of music is released as a single track, and this epic piece of music is released as several tracks”?
Michael Stolt: Well, I would say part of it is that it’s easier for the record company (laughs) to actually split it up. If I would decide everything, I would probably put them as one song.
Mladen: Right, right.
Michael Stolt: But I don’t think too much about that. Same thing, I don’t think too much because, since I came back, every album I’ve been hearing, “Oh, we missed the epics.” And people start talking about long songs, “Oh, there’s no 20-minute song.”
Mladen: People really want their obligatory 20-minute epic, yeah.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, but to me, either it’s a good song or it’s not. It doesn’t matter if it’s five minutes or 25. And honestly, when you listen to probably the most famous song of ours, Stardust We Are, if we would record that today, we would probably skip the last part of it. And that’s what we do live. We never play the very last part of it. But, you know, that was recorded back in the day. (laughs) Almost 30 years ago.
Mladen: I’m completely with you on that. Regardless of it being a long song or a short song, as long as it is a good track, that’s all that matters.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. I mean, when I listen to the bands from the ’70s, Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, or whatever, I listen to the song. If it’s a good song, that’s fine.
Mladen: Absolutely. If you put on, let’s say, Selling England by the Pound, when I listen to Firth of Fifth, I’m always amazed by the keyboard playing and the guitar playing towards the end. It never strikes me, “Oh, man, I wish this song was longer. I wish it was an epic.” No, it’s perfect the way it is. You do not need to stretch it out into a 25-minute song so that prog fans will be happy.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, but funny you mentioned Selling England because, I’m not 100% sure, but there’s no 20-minute song on that one, I think.
Mladen: No, no. Well, Supper’s Ready was on Foxtrot, right? And then Selling England had maybe a couple of 10-minute songs.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. And sometimes, I mean, the same thing with Yes. I love the epics. (laughs) Probably one of my favorite songs, any genre or any time, is Awaken, because I think it’s a beautiful, beautiful song. I will probably go and see Jon Anderson when he comes to Sweden in a month or so.
Mladen: Believe it or not, I was in Stockholm last month and I saw the poster. I believe it was at Cirkus. And I was like, “Oh, Jon Anderson is playing. That’s amazing.” I was so envious of you having this opportunity.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. And I really do hope that he plays Awaken because, oh man, I wish I wrote that song. (laughs) It’s great, the intro with the grand piano and everything, and the spacey ending of it.
Mladen: The ending is brilliant, yeah. Fingers crossed. I hope you get to hear it.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. (laughs)
Mladen: Another thing I wanted to ask really quick, I’m not sure if you’re the right person to answer, but I’m still curious about the inclusion of the accordion on some of the more recent records as well as this one. There’s also a great part of you playing in unison with the accordion towards the end of The Gods of Rome. Where does this come from? How did you come up with adding the accordion to the sound palette of the band?
Michael Stolt: You know, we found our friend (laughs) Alexander. He joined us in some live gigs, and what a musician. He’s unbelievably good. So he played with us a couple of times, and then we said, “Why don’t we use him on the album?” Because on some of the songs there was accordion, but, you know, sampled accordion.
Mladen: Either keyboards or stuff like that, right?
Michael Stolt: Yeah. And we said, “Why not do the real deal?” And then he had a friend, I don’t remember his name now, a violin player. And I love that part. That violin and the accordion, it adds something that is not, you know, mainstream.
Mladen: And it also fits like a glove. It’s probably my favorite part of the record.
Michael Stolt: Oh, okay.
Mladen: Yeah. It’s a really wonderful section.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. And it’s a bit different harmony-wise too. It’s kind of a little Eastern style that he adds to it. And it’s fun playing. I love guitars and keyboards, but sometimes it’s nice to bring in something else.
Mladen: Right. This was really a refreshing section, hearing some new instruments being added to the palette, and in what a creative way.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, good to hear. I appreciate it.
Mladen: Another thing that I wanted to ask you was the album cover itself. I’m not sure if you had any input or if you’ve talked to the guys about this, but you know how we talk about prog fans loving their prog epics. Prog fans also love their animals on the front covers, right? (laughs) You guys are also no strangers to that, with the elephant on Waiting for Miracles. So where does this come from? Do the animals at all fit the sound of the band or the themes, or is it just a cool artwork?
Michael Stolt: Yeah, you know, Waiting for Miracles, By Royal Decree, and this one, Hope, it’s actually the same artist who painted them. And it’s not AI or airbrushed. It’s a painting. It’s Kevin Sloan, the guy who made this. And we were talking about the new album since the last one was quite different. To be honest, I had a little problem with the last one when the idea came up, and I said, “Oh, are you sure about this?” And now I love it, because if you’ve seen it, you remember it.
Mladen: It really catches the attention.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. But when we were talking now, and I don’t remember if it was the record company or someone else who came up with it, why not try to use something with Kevin Sloan again? And we found that picture. I really like the way he paints. I mean, everyone loves the elephant. I have never heard (laughs) anyone saying something bad about that. Because, as you mentioned, there are always opinions about record artwork. But with the elephant, people have always been very happy about it. And I also really like By Royal Decree.
Mladen: That was amazing, yeah.
Michael Stolt: Because there are so many details. You can look at it for a long time and find new things all the time.
Mladen: That’s the good part about people buying vinyl again, because looking at an artwork like that on vinyl is really an experience.
Michael Stolt: Yeah. I think that when the CD came in, you lost a bit of that love you had for it. I remember when I was young and I went to the record store and bought an album and came home and put it on, played it, and just sat there for 45 minutes, an hour, checking out the artwork.
Mladen: That’s quite something.
Michael Stolt: On CDs, you know…
Mladen: It’s fine, I guess, but it’s not vinyl.
Michael Stolt: (laughs)
Mladen: I wanted to ask you about any touring plans. Can you talk about it at all at this moment in time, or is that still in the works?
Michael Stolt: We’re looking into it right now. You know, touring has become so expensive. Many bands and artists struggle with that. I mean, the price for a Nightliner tour bus is almost three times now what it was 10 or 15 years ago. So you have to be a little careful with how you plan tours. There are a lot of expenses doing that. So we’re looking into that now, but we will definitely play.
Mladen: Wonderful.
Michael Stolt: But I can’t give you any dates. In general, there will be no shows this year. So probably February next year. We also have to, since Lalle is touring with Steve Hackett, make that work.
Mladen: Right. A couple of things to work out. Until then, we can basically be spinning the album, sinking it in until the tour starts. Well, let’s talk about that. Where can people get this record?
Michael Stolt: Since it’s released through Sony Music, which owns Inside Out, it should be available everywhere.
Mladen: Perfect.
Michael Stolt: I don’t know exactly how that works, but it’s a good feeling that we have a major organization behind it, because it’s the same thing there. If you order a vinyl from Sweden and you live in the States, the cost for shipping is (laughs) way beyond what the album costs. So hopefully everyone can get a copy of it. And a very good thing is that with the single, in recent years, we have never had this much attention. A lot of streams on YouTube.
Mladen: The streams and views, exactly. I was just looking at that.
Michael Stolt: So, you never know when you release something. I mean, we love the new album. We think it’s a really good one. But that doesn’t mean that everyone else will love it. (laughs) So you’re always a little anxious to know what will happen. We had the same feeling with Love, the last album, but that was received very well. And I sure do hope that the fans that have been waiting for longer songs can also…
Mladen: There is a little something for everybody that’s listened to The Flower Kings over the years, right?
Michael Stolt: There is. Yeah.
Mladen: Absolutely. So let’s make sure people go out and get it, buy it, stream it. Once again, it is out October 23rd, Hope, the 18th studio record by The Flower Kings. Michael, I want to thank you for your time.
Michael Stolt: Yeah, thank you.
Mladen: For everybody watching, thank you for watching, and we’ll see you around.
HOPE is out October 23rd on InsideOutMusic. Pre-order and stream it here: https://theflowerkings.lnk.to/HOPE-Album
HOPE will be available as Ltd.CD + Blu-Ray Digipak, featuring Dolby Atmos & 5.1 Surround Sound mixes by Rich Mouser, a first for the band. The album will also be available as Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 2LP & Digitally.
HOPE tracklisting:
World Spinning – The Final Curtain (18:45)
In a World of Fools (5:35)
Mars & Minerva (4:40)
The Gods Of Rome (28:15)
The Flower Kings are: Roine Stolt, Hasse Fröberg, Lalle Larsson, Michael Stolt and Mirko DeMaio.
THE FLOWER KINGS online:
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INSIDEOUT MUSIC online:
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