Following the departure of founding guitarist Tom DeLonge last year, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker promised that a new album would be dropping in 2016. Now, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed through a band representative that the album’s first single is due to arrive in April.
Though technically a follow-up to 2011’s Neighborhoods, the currently untitled effort is really the beginning of a new era for the pop punk stalwarts. Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba filled in for DeLonge on Blink’s 2015 tour, and he’ll officially take over the role on the new album.
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Barker told PunkVideosRock that recording for the album wrapped earlier this month, though the tracklist has not yet come together. “It’s just a matter of picking what 12 to 14 songs,” he explained. “I think we wrote 26 or 27, so everyone right now is really pushing for their favorites.”
KROQ Music Director Lisa Worden revealed additional album details to Radio.com. Mark Hoppus will provide most of the primary vocals with support from Skiba, and Worden assured that even with the lineup change, it’s still very much Blink-182. “It sounds like Blink but it’s not anything that we’ve heard before,” she said. “For fans of the band, they’re going to be super happy with it. It starts with Travis’ unmistakable drumming—it’s just that signature Blink sound—you immediately know who it is.”
She went on to say that producer John Feldmann, who also fronts Goldfinger, has aided in making the songs “sound really big.” “The guys aren’t 23 anymore,” Feldmann recently told Kerrang! magazine. “They’re dads now, so they’re no longer writing songs about poo and that kind of stuff. But there’s still got to be a sense of humor to it; it’s got to be fun and funny, but also age appropriate.” What’s more, the producer calls the album “one of the best records I’ve ever made in my life.”
Below, watch a few Instagram videos of the band in the studio.
