Paul Bergen/RedfernsMyles Kennedy‘s debut solo album, 2018’s Year of the Tiger, is an outlier in the Alter Bridge frontman’s discography for two reasons. One, it’s a more acoustic-based effort compared to his usual hard rock offerings, and two, it’s a much more lyrically personal project that deals specifically with the death of his father.
As he continues work on his second solo offering, Kennedy tells ABC Audio that the upcoming new material both continues and diverts from the path he established with Year of Tiger, lyrically and sonically.
“There’s a track that was inspired by a family member, which is very personal, and, to some degree, kind of a continuation of Year of the Tiger,” Kennedy explains. “This person’s part of that story, after the narrative of that unfolds.”
However, Kennedy adds that the album will also include songs that reflect what’s going on in the world today, albeit in an “ambiguous” way in an effort to not date the material.
“If you get too direct with that, people are gonna listen 10 years from now, and it’s not gonna resonate,” he says.
While Kennedy won’t be sure how the whole album will coalesce lyrically until he’s decided exactly which songs make the cut, he’s much more clear on its musical direction, which will follow more of an electric-based “rock slant.”
“Most of it was written on electric guitar,” Kennedy says. “But I do have that acoustic element ’cause I wanted to continue this statement musically with what I’d done on Year of the Tiger.”
“There’s plenty of lap steel, there’s mandolin at times,” he adds. “But there’s also a lot of rock n’ roll guitar.”
While you wait for Kennedy’s new solo album, you can listen to Alter Bridge’s new Walk the Sky 2.0 EP.
By Josh Johnson
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