Richard Thompson is composing a musical play that will be premiere in June at Penn State, according to his newsletter Beesweb, which cites an Ottawa Citizen article.
He has penned 24 songs and instrumental passages for a string quartet. He told the paper, "Some of the songs are short, about 30 seconds, and others regular song length. It's an hour plus of music, which is a lot to write."
The song cycle project was commissioned by the International Society of Bassists and involves Thompson's not-related bassist Danny Thompson.The theme is a talent contest in Hell.
He is also working on a new band album and a new solo album. A  Richard Thompson Songbook series is still a few months away.
Until then he has solo dates in October and December and a "1,000 Years of Popular Music" tour of the U.K. in January.