Swedish progressive rock veterans The Flower Kings have announced HOPE, their 18th studio album, due 23 October via InsideOut Music. The 10-track record includes the 30-minute centrepiece "The Gods of Rome" in seven parts and the opening suite "World Spinning – The Final Curtain" in five movements. Reviewer Zachary Nathanson, writing for Echoes and Dust on 2 October 2026, describes the album as an ambitious, cinematic journey balancing symphonic scope with jazz-fusion textures and medieval imagery, noting themes of division and empathy in the modern world. The band — Roine Stolt, Hasse Fröberg, Lalle Larsson, Michael Stolt and Mirko DeMaio — recorded the follow-up to 2023's Look at You Now with a renewed sense of optimism. Preorders for 24-bit HD digital, CD and vinyl are open via InsideOut Music's Bandcamp.