Credit: Sanjay ParikhAs we officially entered the new decade, Shinedown frontman Brent Smith marked 2020 as a “creative year.” Now, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith is holding himself to that declaration.
Speaking to ABC Audio, Smith reveals that Shinedown has begun working on the band’s seventh studio effort, the follow-up to 2018’s ATTENTION ATTENTION.
“We’re writing for the new material,” Smith says. “This was gonna be a creative year [and] none of that’s changed. We’re still creating, we’re still putting things together and seeing where we want to go next.”
Smith adds that the new material is currently in the “preliminary” stages.
“[Bassist] Eric [Bass] has been sending me stuff since pretty much the beginning of the year,” he says. “We’ve been going back-and-forth on certain things, ’cause we’re not in the same room together.”
In addition to another Shinedown record, Smith has a number of other projects in the works, including a forthcoming double album from Smith & Myers, his side project with band mate Zach Myers.
“It’s 10 cover songs picked by the audience, and, for the very first time, 10 original songs,” Smith explains.
While in quarantine, Smith’s also found more time to edit the long-in-the-works ATTENTION ATTENTION film, a visual accompaniment to the album.
“I’m just blown away by how awesome it’s turning out to be,” he says. “I think people are really gonna dig that when that’s released.”
While you wait for all that, you can listen to the new Shinedown single “Atlas Falls,” a previously unreleased song that dates back to the sessions for 2012’s Amaryllis. The track is bundled with an exclusive t-shirt to raise funds for Direct Relief, which is supporting healthcare workers amid the pandemic.
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