CLUTCH Songwriting Process For Next Album 'Has Taken Longer Than We Would Have Liked', Says NEIL FALLON

In a new interview with the Mark And Me podcast, CLUTCH frontman Neil Fallon spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to the "Sunrise On Slaughter Beach" album, which was released in September 2022. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, we're writing now. It's taken longer than I think we would've liked to have, but to be honest, we toured a lot in the past three years, like really grounded down. When you come home from tour, you don't wanna turn around the next day and say, 'Let's get together and write a song.' Gotta take a bit of a break. And we took off maybe four weeks and then got back together. And we get together maybe once, twice a week for four or five hours. But again, it's, like you gotta write a lot of garbage to get to the good stuff. And it seems the less premeditated it is, those are the songs that end up as part of the canon, almost the accidental songs. Those are the ones that seem to be the best."

Asked if he would ever consider releasing a solo album of material that doesn't exactly fit CLUTCH, Neil said: "I've written a handful of solo works, for lack of a better word, just because they never ended up in the hands of the band. Not because I'm keeping it a secret. It's just I listened to it and it's, like, I don't think this is gonna make a lot of sense, trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. And I don't have any interest in being in another band. I feel very satisfied with where I'm at.

"The only other thing I kind of occupy my time with is I've taken up oil painting, which I used to do when I was really young," he revealed. "And I find it to be a very good distraction from music, and a lot of times I come up with lyrics when I'm doing that instead of sitting down with a blank piece of paper. It's just another exercise to keep the creative brain in shape and not atrophy."

Earlier this month, CLUTCH announced the second leg of the "Full Ahead Flank MMXXV" North American tour. Support on the trek, which will launch on July 30 in Little Rock, Arkansas, will come from BLACKTOP MOJO and THE INSPECTOR CLUZO.

The first leg of "Full Ahead Flank MMXXV" will take place in June 2025, with special guests TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN and Nate Bergman.

CLUTCH will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its second record, the eponymous "Clutch", on extensive European and North American tours which will see the band play the record in sequence and in its entirety. Production, staging, and lighting will be designed especially to enhance the vibe of this ground-breaking release.

Released by Atlantic Records back in May 1995, the self-titled album afforded CLUTCH their first mainstream exposure, and spawned a trilogy of psychedelic-tinged singles still much loved by fans today: "Big News", "Spacegrass" and "Escape From The Prison Planet".

Later this year, Weathermaker will release this influential stoner classic on 180-gram vinyl. Full details are yet to be revealed.

CLUTCH has been writing new music on and off around its touring commitments, preparing for what will be the band's fourteenth studio LP. Although CLUTCH has confirmed it is working with producer Tom Dalgety once again, little else has been revealed so far including any expected timeline.

Fans keen for the latest titbits should sign up to CLUTCH's newsletter, News From The Doom Saloon, via their official web site. Its recent instalment exclusively revealed two working titles for new songs: "Church Of The Mountain Wolf" and "Wild Kingdom".

CLUTCH shares more in common with THE GRATEFUL DEAD, RUSH and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS than their heavy riffs and heady twists-of-phrase might suggest. Because like those bands, the supporters who adore CLUTCH are there for the experience, community, and authentic connection. To love CLUTCH is to feel a sense of ownership, membership, and belonging.

Seneca Valley High School classmates Neil Fallon (vocals),Tim Sult (guitar),Dan Maines (bass) and Jean-Paul Gaster (drums) share an unshakeable musical and personal bond now three decades strong. Shaped by the same region which birthed BAD BRAINS, MINOR THREAT and RITES OF SPRING, CLUTCH crafts hyper-literate and libertine jams informed by hardcore fury and fuzzy, athletic, stoner rock.

Live shows over the years include tours with SLAYER and SYSTEM OF A DOWN and more recent co-headlining treks with DROPKICK MURPHYS, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and MASTODON. Like SLAYER or IRON MAIDEN, CLUTCH outlasted rock bands anchored to "hit songs" and the pressure of replicating them. The foursome from Germantown, Maryland, isn't bound by trends. Across thirteen studio albums and assorted releases since 1991, they've earned a reputation as one of the best around.