Van Halen Working on New Music
Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth recently confirmed that the band’s new album is officially in the works. Although the process will take a bit longer, the singer expressed hope for the record to drop in about 18 months.
Chatting with Jim Florentine of “That Metal Show,” Roth commented: “I was up at Edward’s house, maybe three days ago – just before I came here to the city – and we’re starting to put music together. Not to give away exactly what the package will be, it’s gonna be about 18 months, I think.”
The singer elaborated further, “We start way, way, way in advance, ’cause we are eminently art-centric, which is a really fancy way of saying we really do generate all the artwork, the graphics, etc. We don’t hire out and have somebody design a bunch of album covers for us and then choose … we start from scratch ourselves. Same thing with the merchandise – if you buy a t-shirt, that was designed, literally, in my living room.”
Confirming the same perfectionist approach for everything regarding Van Halen, David concluded: “So if you really want to generate the ideas from scratch and bring them all the way to the finish, you’re gonna have to learn a few other languages, and you’re gonna have to speak those over a lot of extra phone calls. And that’s usually the break point for most artists.”
Going back to new music, the vocalist added: “Oh, yeah, we’re writing … I write lyrics routinely. It’s a perishable skill. And the band plays together routinely, at least three times a week. They’re up at Ed’s place, routinely.”
The latest Van Halen studio effort, “A Different Kind of Truth,” saw its release in February 2012 via Interscope Records.