Progressive RockClassic Rock
Asia have premiered the video for “Arcadia”, a track from “Indigo”, the album Frontiers Music release on 6 November. It is the band’s first studio album since “Gravitas”, from 2014.
The title goes back a long way. “The original idea for ‘Arcadia’ was for it to be the title of the third Asia album, which we then decided to change to ‘Astra’,” Geoff Downes explains. “Arcadia is a historical region of Greece and it is described as an idyllic pastoral place, free from the outside world. Our song symbolises retreating from everyday life, an escape, if you like, to a quieter place, something we all need to do from time to time.”
The writing started in 2015, when Downes was still working on it with John Wetton, and two final compositions of his have ended up on the record: “Tattoo Indigo (Parts 2 & 3)” and “Chesapeake Bay”. Wetton died in 2017. Steve Howe plays acoustic guitar on “Chesapeake Bay” and Mike Portnoy is on the third part of “Tattoo Indigo”, which goes on as a bonus track.
The current line-up is Downes on keyboards, John Mitchell on guitar, Harry Whitley on bass and vocals and Virgil Donati on drums. The album was recorded across 2025, Downes and the band produce it, and Mitchell has mixed and mastered it.
Text by Guillem Cardós