“I fell upon these people bit by bit, and also the songs which I could bring back, this arsenal of incredible pieces from all sorts of corners of time," Robert Plant says on BBC Radio 4's Front Row in a conversation with presenter Samira Ahmed about his new album, Saving Grace, out next week, and the band of distinguished players with whom he made it: vocalist Suzi Dian, drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley, cellist Barney Morse-Brown. You can hear their conversation below via Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

The genesis of Saving Grace was during lockdown, when Plant’s customary wandering was all but forbidden. It was in the English countryside that he connected closely to this diverse group of musicians who had a shared lean towards his corners of evocative song. Produced by Plant and the band and recorded over six years in the Cotswolds and on the Welsh Borders, Saving Grace features songs by Memphis Minnie, Bob Mosley (Moby Grape), Blind Willie Johnson, The Low Anthem, Martha Scanlan, Sarah Siskind, and Low. You can pre-order it here.

Robert Plant and Saving Grace will tour North America in the autumn and the UK in December. For details and tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.