SHINEDOWN Singer: 'We're Never Gonna Phone An Album In'

Brent Smith has told "The Morning Blaze" in a new interview that SHINEDOWN never approaches the making of its albums with the intention of topping its previous releases. "We try not to compare anything and put it in the idea of, 'I need to beat the last record that we did,'" the singer said. "The way that we look at is we're never gonna phone an album in, just like we're never gonna phone in writing a song. But the fact of the matter is we don't wanna write the same record over and over again, and we definitely don't write the same song over and over again. So I think, for us, it's more about looking at where we are at the time and deciding what direction we need to go in."

He continued: "One of the things we did differently on [SHINEDOWN's latest album, 'Attention Attention'] was we didn't even consider any other producers. We've had some great teachers over the years — male and female — but it was time for us to do it ourselves. So we did the album in-house. And Eric Bass, who is our bass player, who is way more than just a bass player, he took the reins and he took the position. A lot of people may not know this, but Eric is the producer of 'Attention Attention'. He also is the main engineer of the record and he mixed the album.

"We had been getting closer and closer to being able to really look at the big picture here and let him do the entire record," Brent added. "'Cause he's actually done other songs that… 'Cause he is the producer and he engineered the song 'Diamond Eyes'; he was also a songwriter on that. He engineered and he produced the song 'Cut The Cord', which was the first single off of 'Threat To Survival'. And he's done a number of other songs in a single mentality. But it was time for him to take on an entire record, and he was the right guy for the job. He had a good quote about it too… He said, 'I'd rather go crazy making it myself rather than watch someone else go crazy trying to make it.'"

"Attention Attention", SHINEDOWN's sixth studio album, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart back in May. The follow-up to 2015's "Threat To Survival" tells the story of a character who starts out defeated and slowly overcomes pain and personal struggles and becomes confident at the end. The album also lyrically touches upon Smith's former drug addiction and Bass's depression.

SHINEDOWN will embark on a U.S. headlining tour in February. Support on the trek will come from PAPA ROACH and ASKING ALEXANDRIA.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine