Primus Wonka Album | Signs Point Towards October Release

UPDATE 1 p.m. PT: We’ve learned the title of the album is Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble and can confirm it’s expected to be released via ATO Records on October 21.

This past New Year’s Eve, Primus played a special Charlie & The Chocolate Factory-themed show at the Fox Theater in Oakland. The band and their guests covered a number of songs from the film in the second set at the Fox. Last month, Les Claypool spoke with SF Weekly and revealed Primus was planning to release a new studio album containing their spin on the Wonka tunes. From the looks of an Instagram post shared by Nashville record store Grimey’s (as first noted by Jambands.com), it appears the album is due on October 21.

[Photo by Sterling Munksgard]

Claypool also shared with SF Weekly that Primus planned to tour behind the Wonka album, though it’s unknown whether drummer Tim Alexander’s recovery from heart surgery has postponed those plans. Furthermore, Les also revealed Primus was joined by members of the Frog Brigade in recording their interpretation of the Wonka material. We should note Skerik and Mike Dillon sat in with Primus on the Wonka portion of the New Year’s Eve show in Oakland.

For now, there’s been no official announcement from Primus and all we’ve got to go on are Claypool’s comments to SF Weekly, which mentioned the album was due this fall, and the Instagram image from Grimey’s. The Instagram image looks like a “Golden Ticket” similar to the styling of Primus’s New Year’s show announcement. See both below: