FINGER ELEVEN's SCOTT ANDERSON Explains 10-Year Wait For 'Last Night On Earth' Album

In a new interview with Matt Bingham of the Z93 radio station, FINGER ELEVEN frontman Scott Anderson spoke about the long gap between the band's last two albums.

Released in November, "Last Night On Earth" marked the first new full-length effort from the Canadian rockers in 10 years, following 2015's "Five Crooked Lines".

Regarding why it took a decade for FINGER ELEVEN to release a new LP, Scott said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Look, we're all dads and we're all husbands. And we didn't do well with remote recording. We tried, but everybody's schedules, it's pretty full up. So the only thing that really worked is — and still — the only effective thing is getting together. So what we would do — always traditionally — we'll rent a cottage and spend a week or two up there and grind the ideas out. Now, that's great because the ideas get developed and they get better and better and better. But the old-school system is you rent a big studio for a month or two, and then when the time runs out, your album is done. Well, we had the exact opposite problem — there was kind of no time limit. We didn't rent the big studio. We would go to cottages and then we would go to Steve's [Molella] house, who is the drummer in the band and the producer on this album. And we would just improve the material. We would break it down and keep what's cool about this song and write it and rewrite it again over and over and over. So that kept the song quality up, but it just took forever. And then last summer rolled around and we had that big tour with CREED and there was some interest in the band. And so we were, like, 'Look, man, we gotta strike while the iron is kind of sort of hot. We need to figure out how to finish this record.' And so we eventually did. But, yeah, I can't believe it took that long, but in a way I can sort of account for the time. But I don't wanna take that long again, that's for sure."

Scott went on to say that being able to take 10 years to fine-tune the material is "great for musical quality" but "it's murder for your career. It's terrible. Don't do it. Finish the record. My advice to any musician out there: finish your dang record earlier than 10 years, please. Don't do this."

After Bingham noted that a lot of FINGER ELEVEN fans were probably getting impatient while waiting for a new full-length album from the band, Scott said: "Well, I think that's true, but I also think it's difficult to get excited about an older band's new record, let's say. Sometimes those don't turn out so good. And I think this one will be a surprising one because of the circumstances, because the quality control is there. The sacrifice was all this time, but the result is that it's a really solid record for a band that's been around for a minute."

Anderson also talked about the FINGER ELEVEN songwriting process, explaining: "Not only is it a collective effort, it's more open than it ever has been, which is pretty magical. And anybody gets to chime in on anything. 'What about this riff?' Or, 'Scott, what's that lyric?' 'Oh, okay.' It's much more open than it ever used to be. That's creatively satisfying, but it takes a very, very long time for everybody to be happy, because if you've got one person saying, 'No, no, no. You play this, you play this, you play this,' your album's gonna be done in, like, a week. But that's not really a satisfying vision, that's not what keep bands together, in my opinion. It's not what keeps them happy, at least. So, it's great. You're not afraid to say anything in the room."

"Last Night On Earth" came out on November 7 via Better Noise Music.

Released in September, the "Last Night On Earth" title track was the follow-up to the album's second single and video which was released in August, the thunderous "Blue Sky Mystery" featuring Richard Patrick from FILTER.

Last year, fans got the first taste of "Last Night On Earth" via the high-octane "Adrenaline" (which reached the Top 20 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart) and a video that's garnered nearly 200,000 views on YouTube. The song also reached No. 2 on the Active Rock chart in Canada, where the song held strong in the Top 5 for over four months.

FINGER ELEVEN have always amalgamated their musical influences from the 1960s forward into their rock mix. They acknowledge that Phil Collins and GENESIS were a big melodic influence on "Last Night On Earth". And the new tunes explore time-honored FINGER ELEVEN concepts with fresh twists. While "Adrenaline" is a rousing, intense anthem about pushing forward against adversity, "Blue Sky Mystery" is another hard-hitting rocker about being beguiled by something just out of reach. Further into the album, "The Mountain" rides musical peaks and valleys in its quest to chase the song, about the creative process expressed in a fantasy setting. Then there is the acoustic number "Last Night On Earth", which tackles relationship turmoil. It's the most personal new track for Anderson.

Originally from Burlington, Ontario and now based mostly out of Toronto, FINGER ELEVEN has released a series of consecutive hit albums and become among the greatest live bands to ever emerge from the great White North. Their self-titled debut album broke the band into the international mainstream, achieving gold status in the United States and platinum in Canada, and smashing the first single "One Thing" across the radio and Billboard charts. Their 2007 album "Them Vs. You Vs. Me" launched the single "Paralyzer", setting radio records in the U.S., peaking at No. 1 internationally and going five times platinum, the band's second million-plus seller. They won the Juno Award for "Rock Album" the following year and set an incredible run at rock radio, with an unbeaten 14 weeks at the top spot. "Life Turns Electric" was nominated for a Juno Award for "Best Rock Album Of The Year". 2015's "Five Crooked Lines" continued to electrify audiences the world over and their 2023 "Greatest Hits" includes their biggest smash hit in a decade, "Together Right", which topped the radio charts for an amazing five-week run at No. 1.