STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Bassist On 'Perdida' Acoustic Album: 'It's Always A Pleasure To Interpret The Songs The Way They Were Written'

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will release their first-ever acoustic album, titled "Perdida", on February 10, 2020. The band recorded the disc at drummer Eric Kretz's Bomb Shelter Studios. STP utilized a variety of instruments that haven't been associated with the group in the past, including flute, alto saxophone, guitarrón, viola, cello and vintage keyboards. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will also launch an acoustic tour in early 2020.

Bassist Robert DeLeo told Meltdown of the Detroit radio station WRIF about the LP: "It's always a pleasure to kind of interpret the songs the way they were written. I think all the songs start — for me, and Dean [DeLeo, guitar], too; I can speak for Dean too — all the songs, whether they get turned into electric songs, they're always interpreted and started, they came to light on an acoustic guitar. So with this record, we just kind of kept it in that place. And, gosh, we only had a few songs, and then it turned into a whole record. So it's just kind of taken this life of its own. And I think it's gonna be really cool to see this live. We're gonna be adding a couple of other musicians and adding some strings and making it a nice evening."

Asked if he is feeling any anxiety over the fact he will be performing STP's music in a more intimate format, singer Jeff Gutt said: "It's decompressing, in a way. It's not as high voltage — it's more laid back and stripped down, and I think that's a beautiful place, the essence of it all."

Regarding which songs from the Scott Weiland era of the band he is looking forward to performing live, Jeff said: "I'm looking forward to doing some of the ones that wouldn't be thought of being acoustic — reinterpreting things and doing known things in a new way, I suppose."

According to a press release, "Perdida" features "10 deeply personal songs that weave introspective lyrics together with unexpected instruments to take listeners on an emotional and musical journey through letting go and starting over."

The word "perdida" is Spanish for "loss," and Robert said that music has helped the members of STP process grief and other emotions. He explained: "When I've gone through things in my life, I've found that sitting down and having an honest conversation with my guitar is the best therapy."

Robert told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that STP has never stuck to one formula when it came to creating new songs. "There's no rules to writing music and that's what I enjoy about it, you know," he said. "You've always got ideas stored away somewhere, you know. There's those ideas and there's also ones that hit you at the moment and you realize that this could be something that we could all dig into and bite into, and that's really exciting when it's one of those."

The band has released the "Perdida" opening track, called "Fare Thee Well".

STP will kick off the tour behind "Perdida" on February 5 in Vancouver.

Photo credit: PR Brown