The dudes in Clutch are working on their follow up to 2022’s Sunrise on Slaughter Beach and it’s sounding like things are progressing as well as you’d hoped. Though we won’t get new tunes until sometime next year, that doesn’t mean we can’t get unreasonably hyped for what they’ve got in store.
During a recent interview with Bloodstock TV‘s Oran O’Beirne (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Clutch frontman Neil Fallon let slip that the band was done with their first demoing effort for the forthcoming record. Now that that hurdle’s been dealt with, thanks to the direction of producer Tom Dalgety, it’s sounding like they’re one third of the way from actually committing songs to a record.
“We’re gonna try to maybe do [another session] in January and then another one right before we record. Hopefully we’ll have 15 tracks and then we’ll pick maybe the 10 best release those and maybe save some for a rainy day.”
In the past, different members of the band have commented on the status of the new record. Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster said they were going to be “refining” songs near the tail end of July, while bassist Dan Maines said the band had “a solid 10 ideas” rattling around the Doom Saloon (which is what they call their practice space).
Speaking to the fact that the band was working with Dalgety once again, Fallon touted the producer’s abilities as they relate to Clutch’s needs.
“Tom’s great. I think sometimes working with a producer, personality is half the battle because they can have all the skills in the world but if they’re an asshole, you don’t wanna work with them. Tom is anything but that.”
Man, to know that we’re getting closer and closer to new Clutch music is super exciting. There’s no reason to hide it — I’m a fan of these guys and judging by the comments, you guys are too.
All we gotta do now is wait and hope they start playing some of the new music at their next show, which is something Fallon said they hope to do.
“Yeah. we try to. That doesn’t always happen. Playing a song live in front of people is a much different animal than doing it in a studio where you can stop and say, ‘I have to go to the bathroom.’ There’s an urgency that will change a song. Sometimes something sounds great and then you put it on stage and it may be not so much, or vice versa. So we like to do that.”
