Some eagle-eyed TOOL fans have pointed out to Metal Injection that artist profiles for the band have popped up today on streaming services, namely Spotify and Apple Music.
Tool have been a holdout on those services for many years, and while I can't find the tweet now, I seem to remember Maynard teasing that they are just waiting to release everything at once in conjunction with having new music. Well, this morning, profiles for the band launched on both services.
Interestingly, the Spotify profile lists a correct promo photo for the band, although, it should be noted, an old photo. There haven't been new Tool promo photos in almost a decade, since the last album. The Apple Music profile features a profile and related artists, but incorrectly attributes a remake of "Every Breath You Take" to the band in the profile.
Bloomberg reported all the way back in 2017 that the band's people were talking with streaming platforms about bringing the catalog to their services, so this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. At the very least, it's safe to assume that we will soon be able to finally stream the band's entire catalog on these platforms. But, what if there's more?
What if Tool is planning on releasing a new song tomorrow? Yesterday, Maynard tweeted a suggestion that the band would play some new music on their upcoming shows, which kick off this Sunday at Welcome to Rockville.
Eyes on @tool. #riotgearretired #whileyouwerewhiningwewereworking @tool2019 pic.twitter.com/y71dFL3xT9
— Maynard J Keenan (@mjkeenan) May 1, 2019
In the past, Maynard has said he's now hesitant to play new music live because then the first listen most people will have of the music is a poor bootleg of the track. So, it would make sense that if the band were planning on playing something new, they would get ahead of the bootlegs and release a professional recording (and possibly even a music video) for fans to digest before performing the track live for the first time.
I should note that I am speaking with no insider knowledge on what Tool's plans are. As the title suggests, I am just speculating. One thing that is for certain is that it's a very very exciting time to be a Tool fan. After so many years of wait, we are finally going to get new music. Now the question is if it will live up to the ridiculously high standards that Tool fans have set for the music.
