Fish has reported he’s planning to end his musical career in 2017 after a final album, a set of re-releases and a farewell tour. The singer has been working towards retirement for several years, but the acclaim surrounding his 2013 release A Feast Of Consequences has led to offers of live work he doesn’t want to refuse.

And he wants to take the time to ensure that, when he goes, he’s left a body of work as high in quality as it can be.

Fish says on his website: “2015 has repositioned itself as far as cunning plans go, and that’s having a knock-on effect on the outro I was looking at. “Rescheduled dates in January and February have torn a chunk out of my schedule, and after discussions and offers in the last few days I have to reconsider how the year unfolds. I can’t name specific events – what I can say is that July and August will be full-on as a mixture of open airs in Europe, threaded together with a string of club shows, leading up to the Cropredy festival, with weekends pretty much full with shows all the way up to the second week of September.

“It would be unwise to attempt to write, record and release the Weltschmerz album in 2015 without putting unnecessary pressure on myself, and running the risks of not only missing deadlines but also being forced into compromises I don’t want to entertain on this project. It has to be special on every level.”

Instead, he’ll concentrate on the relaunch of solo albums Sunsets On Empire, Raingods With Zippos, Fellini Days and Field Of Crows, to be presented in hardback cases with two additional discs and 40-page booklets. They’re to be put on sale on a pre-order basis, with income funding work on his final record.

Fish reports: “The first batch I would like to have available at the beginning of June. Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors, Internal Exile, Suits and Songs From The Mirror will be put together at the end of the year – so that by December my entire catalogue will once again be fully available.”

Writing sessions for his final record will take place during the coming months, recorded early next year and released before the summer, leading to another European tour before a farewell season throughout 2017.

The former Marillion frontman reflects: “I feel comfortable with the scheduling – it gives me the time to prepare for the next important steps in my life. It means I will be retiring from the music business just before my 60th birthday, which I think is a pretty good time to ring the changes.

“I know there will be some of you who perhaps disagree with this ambition, and many who will be disappointed. But a man has to have a plan, and this is mine as I stare into a future which holds a lot of promise and new adventures.”