BRENT SMITH Says SHINEDOWN's Upcoming 'Ei8ht' Album Is 'Essentially A Double Record'

In a new interview with Audacy Music's "Katie & Company", SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith spoke about the band's upcoming eighth studio album, "Ei8ht", which will be released on May 29 via Atlantic Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The record's called 'Ei8ht'. Yes, it's the eighth studio album. It made sense to call it 'Ei8ht'. It asked to be called 'Ei8ht'. We tried all these other ethereal names and put them in and we were trying to be clever, and we were, like, 'No, let's just call it 'Ei8ht'. Another thing with it, it's 18 songs. It's essentially a double record."

Regarding the four-year gap between 2022's "Planet Zero" and "Ei8ht", Brent said: "I had a really good friend of mine, who recently passed away — he was one of my closest friends in the industry, Brad Arnold from 3 DOORS DOWN, when I met him in the beginning with our first record that came out in 2003, I remember he told me, he goes, 'Son, you're going to have your entire life to do your first record, and if it's successful, you're gonna have six months to do your next one.' And he was a hundred percent right. So what I mean by that too is this record is a year and a half in the making. From the time that we kind of started on it, writing it, to getting it produced, getting it ready, the journey that it's taken has been quite extraordinary for us."

Smith continued: "The last two SHINEDOWN records are conceptual pieces, so this album, none of the songs are related to each other, but they exist on the same body of work, but they all are their own entity. So it's a traditional record, and I love saying that, because sometimes people are, like, 'Well, are you a concept band now?' It's, like, no, those records were conceptual because that's what they asked to be. This is something where there's such a broad array of styles on this record — it's very much us, but it's a rollercoaster ride."

SHINEDOWN recently announced a massive "Dance, Kid, Dance Act II" world tour, taking the band to 11 countries across 54 dates, including stops throughout North America and Europe at some of the world's biggest venues.

Joining SHINEDOWN on the massive worldwide tour will be COHEED AND CAMBRIA, BLACK STONE CHERRY, FROM ASHES TO NEW, DJ Rock Feed and THOSE DAMN CROWS on various dates.

The world tour adds to the band's recently announced first-ever curated festival event — Shinedown's Lunatic Ball Beach Weekend, taking place October 23-25, 2026 in Miramar Beach, Florida. The three-day destination experience will feature performances from SHINEDOWN (two unique headlining sets),BUSH, HANSON, FLYLEAF (with Lacey Sturm),LIVING COLOUR, FROM ASHES TO NEW, GUARDIANS OF THE JUKEBOX, NEON MOONERS and more.

Over the past year, SHINEDOWN released four major songs, "Dance, Kid, Dance", "Killing Fields", "Three Six Five" and "Searchlight", each reinforcing the band's position as one of the most powerful forces in modern music. "Dance, Kid, Dance" and "Killing Fields" both reached No. 1 at rock radio, while "Three Six Five" became a global crossover hit, topping No. 1 at Alternative radio, landing Top 10 at Hot AC and AC, and breaking into the Top 20 at Top 40. In the process, SHINEDOWN extended their record with the most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart history (with 21 No. 1's) and Mediabase's Active Rock chart (with 23 No. 1's),continuing a legacy built on consistency, ambition, and emotional connection.

SHINEDOWN is nominated at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards for "Rock Artist Of The Year", "Duo/Group Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "Dance, Kid, Dance". These nominations follow a landmark showing at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where the band won both "Rock Artist Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "A Symptom Of Being Human", marking the second consecutive year SHINEDOWN has been recognized among the genre's top honors.

Photo credit: Ryan Camp