Neil Fallon Says Clutch’s Next Album Will Take Time: “We Wanna Put Out an Awesome Record”
We’ve been talking about a new Clutch album for a while now. Every so often, someone from the band comments about how they’re planning on getting in the studio, or what needs to happen before work really gets going, but in a recent interview with Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), frontman Neil Fallon gave a more in-depth explanation of the band’s timeline.
“This last tour we did, we were playing [2004’s] ‘Blast Tyrant’ in its entirety. And in hindsight, I don’t think we did a very good job of kind of promoting that or letting people know that was happening. So, we’re gonna do it again for a little bit, just like four more shows, in kind of Mid-Atlantic in New York, and Baltimore, the area, because it was the [20th] anniversary of the record. And then we’re gonna take a considerable amount of time off, pretty much until April, and then we’re gonna kind of do the same thing with the [1995] self-titled record because that’ll be the [30th] anniversary for that and we were given the rights to re-release that on vinyl properly. I mean, we don’t own that record outright, but it’s getting closer.
“And in the spaces in between, we’re writing the new record. It’s hard to kind of do that when you’re constantly touring. You would think it’d be easier to write on the road, but at this point, that’s kind of the last thing I wanna do.”
The last album they put out, 2022’s Sunrise On Slaughter Beach was one hell of a record. I mean really, that thing kicked a whole lot of ass, but that’s kind of Clutch’s M.O. — put out great rock music that’s hard to hate.
As for why they don’t really like writing out on the road, it sounds like the Clutch boys are the kind of artists that need some kind of Goldilocks conditions. Things have got to be just right.
“Sure, there might be some ideas that come out. The thing is with being in a band, it’s a hive mind. It’d be one thing if you were the only person you had to answer to and you understood what kind of mood you’re in. Like, ‘I’m in a sour mood. I don’t wanna write music. Or ‘I’m in a great mood and I could bang out five songs.’
“But when you’re dealing with personalities, particularly personalities that have been with each other for 30 years, you kind of have to wait for the stars to align. And we don’t wanna just put out a record for the sake of putting out a record. We wanna put out an awesome record, and if that takes longer than, let’s say, usual, then so be it.”
Regardless of their timeline, I’m sure it’s going to be damn good, whatever their next album ends up being. As for their touring schedule, they’ve got a handful of shows lined up for December that you won’t want to miss (as long as you live on the east coast of the U.S.). You can find the full list of dates below.
Clutch tour dates
w/The Native Howl and Many Eyes
12/5 Norfolk, VA The Norva
12/6 Baltimore, MD Ram’s Head Live!
12/7 Wantagh, NY Mulcahy’s Concert Hall
12/8 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
