Don’t blame Canada… blame COVID. Sum 41 have just announced their eighth studio album, titled Heaven And Hell, which will offer fans a double dose of both the pop-punk and metal sides of their songwriting charm.
Listen to your favorite music now -- curated for fans, by fans -- on Audacy’s Punk Party, Don't Metal In My Affairs, and more!
The new Sum 41 album arrives almost by accident, frontman Deryck Whibley explains in a new interview with Rolling Stone. During the height of COVID, not only work but inspiration was put on the backburner for so many artists, forcing everyone into spaces that could seem unfamiliar. This was certainly the case for Deryk, who for the first time had a chance to relax and focus on being a first-time dad. He and his wife would drive for hours around Los Angeles, their trips soundtracked by curated playlists filled “with all of the punk-rock stuff I listened to when I was in high school that I hadn’t listened to in years,” he says, which eventually “kickstarted me into writing again.”
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Being asked for unreleased music for the 20th-anniversary celebration of the band's debut album, All Killer, No Filler, also helped -- since he had nothing to share -- so, he just began writing again in that similar style. “Once I had about four or five songs, I was like, ‘You know what? I like all these. I’m not giving these to anybody,’” Deryck says. "As I listened to almost all of [the new songs], it just kind of dawned on me. Did I just make a double record on accident?"
Unfortunately, there's no release date or tracklisting yet, but Whibley gave some brief insight into the songs included. "Some of the metal stuff comes with a lot of anger for people who have stolen from me and hurt me in the past," Whibley says, while the pop-punk side brought back feelings of nostalgia. "It all made sense to me why pop-punk is coming back: it's feel-good music," he admits. "There's something that’s happy about it. Something young and innocent and free.".
Of course, you already know that Sum 41 and Simple Plan are heading out on their joint Blame Canada tour, celebrating their debut records All Killer No Filler and No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls respectively beginning on April 29 on the east coast. The first leg of the joint trek kicks off with support from Set It Off; the second leg featuring support from Magnolia Park begins on July 29. Check out full details and grab your tickets right HERE.
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