Almost fourteen years have passed since Alice In Chains released their 1995 self-titled album and now this September they will be releasing it’s follow-up, "Black Gives Way To Blue." While the music world waits in anticipation for the new record, it appears no one is more excited about it than the band itself.
Guitarist
Jerry Cantrell and drummer
Sean Kinney spoke with
Billboard.com about "
Black Gives Way To Blue" and what it’s been like being together again since reuniting in 2006. "
It's nice to sound like yourself,"
Kinney says. "
It's not really that hard, actually. I know people are blown away that we really sound like ourselves, and I understand the apprehension, but it's not really that big a stretch to sound the way that you sound."
Cantrell adds, "We were just hoping to make the best record we possibly could and we did that. Sean and I talk a lot about when you do a record you've been working on it a long time and you're pretty sick of it by the time somebody else hears it. You're already thinking of the next thing. And we're still listening to this. It's still like really exciting to listen to and that's really good."
In regards to touring, Cantrell is letting fans know that they have no plans to stop anytime soon. "We're not going to stop touring when the record comes out," he says. "That would be like an old pattern we're trying not to do again."
The band goes on to describe how the record came to be. "It's been a really slow process," Kinney says. "As long as it felt genuine and it came from the right place, and we all were cool with it, then we'd take another little step. Two years ago we really weren't talking about doing a record. We were on tour and we've been playing and jelling together and Will [DuVall] was getting incorporated into how things are going down. But we always had a jam space backstage where riffs and stuff started happening."
As it’s been 14 years since the last album, the band is promising their most personal album yet, tackling everything that has happened in their lives since 1995 and that includes the 2002 death of original singer Layne Stayley.
"He's always a part of my everyday life," Kinney adds. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. And there's a lot to address, with all of that stuff coming to the forefront. A lot has happened since 1995, a lot has happened in our lives and we've never talked about it or discussed it publicly. So some of that is what's addressed here. That's the way we operate, it's about what really happened in life. We're not really the fast cars and chicks songs. It's basically what's happened in life, but a lot has happened since the last record. And it's on this record."
"Black Gives Way To Blue" comes out on September 29. As previously reported, the band will be playing dates in the United States as well as in Europe in the next few months. These dates are:
07/18 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park (with Kid Rock)
08/01 - Dublin, IE - Marlay Park
08/02 - Stevenage, GB - Knebworth House - Sonisphere
08/04 - London, GB - Scala
08/06 - Cologne, DE - Essigfabrik
08/08 - Berlin, DE - Columbia Club
08/10 - Hamburg, DE - Grunspan
08/12 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
08/22 - Pomona, CA - Epicenter
09/04 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09/05 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
09/07 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
09/08 - New York, NY - The Fillmore
09/15 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
09/16 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
09/19 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
09/20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
09/21 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
09/26 - Portland, OR - Roseland Grill
09/28 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
Fans looking to get a sneak-peek of the new album can check out AliceInChains.com and download the free song, "A Looking In View."
Report by David Lowe-Bianco.
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