An Album I Can't Wait to Hear

Started Mixing the new record today!@nigelgod at the helm pic.twitter.com/DlbZUCMi3n

— Chad Smith (@RHCPchad) March 21, 2016

Ok, I really can't wait.

Last month, frontman Anthony Kiedis revealed the band was “in the home stretch” of finishing the record. “We had written two dozen songs before we got with him. [Danger Mouse] is like, ‘Let’s keep a few of those, but let’s go write all new songs in the studio,'” Kiedis explained during a recent appearance on Steve Jones’ radio program. “We’re looking at each other like, ‘Dude, we kind of already wrote the songs, bro.’ He’s like, ‘No, I like to write new ones in the studio.’ So, in honor of accommodating this new process, we wrote all new songs, and it’s a good thing we did.”

The as-yet-untitled LP serves as the follow-up to 2011’s I’m With You and marks the first Red Hot Chili Peppers’ release not produced by Rick Rubin since 1989’s Mother’s Milk.

So, the first thing is that I'm excited to hear the work the Chili Peppers put out after five years away. I'm also excited to hear the difference in sound with Danger Mouse and Nigel Godrich. The part though that most catches my imagination is that this is the first album without Rick Rubin since "Mother's Milk." They made virtually all of their multi-platinum best-selling albums with Rubin over a stretch that covers a quarter-century. Rubin is one of the great producers of his time. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are rock n' roll icons. They've been away for five years. What will this album sound like? Will it be as good as we expect from them? I expect so. I think so. I can't wait to hear this now.