Red Hot Chili Peppers have surprised fans with the announcement of a brand new album, Return of the Dream Canteen, coming just six months after the release of Unlimited Love.
Set for release on October 14, the new album is produced by Rick Rubin, will be another double-length record, and will once again feature the classic RHCP line-up of Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante.
Anthony Kiedis and Flea made the announcement on stage during the band’s show at the Empower Field at Mile High, Colorado on Saturday night, which was followed by posts to the RHCP’s social media accounts, describing Return of the Dream Canteen as “everything we are and ever dreamed of being.”
Return of the Dream Canteen marks the second album inside a year to feature returning guitarist, John Frusciante, who revealed to Total Guitar in May that the band wrote 45 tracks in the run-up to recording Unlimited Love.
“You know, I was ready to stop when we had, like, 20 – I felt like that was good enough. But one thing led to another and somebody or other kept encouraging me to keep bringing in more songs. So, before we knew it, we had way more songs than we’d ever written for a record before.”
Alluding to the potential for another album from the writing sessions, he added, “I definitely feel like we saved some of the best stuff for the potential next album,”
Posting to Instagram, the band released a more detailed statement about Return of the Dream Canteen, along with the album’s cover art.
"We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs. A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way.
"Once we found that slip stream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waist band of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream. When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with.
"Well we figured it out. 2 double albums released back to back. The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed. 'Return of the Dream Canteen' is everything we are and ever dreamed of being. It’s packed. Made with the blood of our hearts, yours truly, the Red Hot Chili Peppers."
Meanwhile, Red Hot Chili Peppers have just begun the next leg of their world tour, which features 26 dates across the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Return of the Dream Canteen is available to pre-order now.
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