VOLBEAT's MICHAEL POULSEN On Upcoming Album: 'There's A Lot Of Guitars And A Lot Of Riffing'

In a new interview with 104.9 The Wolf, VOLBEAT guitarist/vocalist Michael Poulsen spoke about the writing sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Rewind, Replay, Rebound" LP. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This new record has been done and ready since December. We recorded a full album with a lot of extra material. The whole album is ready — ready to go — and will be released later this year, with tons of bonus material. So we've been busy. We just thought that instead of just being home doing nothing, let's go into the studio and do some songs. And I was very quick about writing a new album. I said, 'Let's just record this new album. Then, when the pandemic is over, let's go on tour, so we don't have to think about that — going home and recording something. We can just continue playing shows.' What we didn't know was that the pandemic would [last so long]. And it only took me three months to write the material, and it only took us three and a half weeks to record it. So we thought that, 'Okay, we're ready to go.' But it's been taking some time with this COVID situation. But the record has been done for a very long time."

Regarding the musical direction of the new VOLBEAT album and how it compares to the band's recently released songs "Wait A Minute My Girl" and "Dagen Før", Michael said: "We just thought it was about time to release a single during the summer. We thought that people needed some positive energy, some light, some uptemp rock and roll. And 'Wait A Minute My Girl' was the first single we released. It's a pure rock and roll song where we were definitely inspired by Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, a little bit of Elvis Presley and RAMONES. And it just has that summer feeling. It doesn't really represent the rest of the album, because, I'm telling you, the rest of the album is probably the most heavy album we've ever done in the VOLBEAT career. But this one just stands out as a pure rock and roller."

Poulsen said that he brought a new song in to rehearsal every time he and his bandmates got together for their twice-weekly sessions. "It just went extremely fast," he said. "And I was so inspired because I did a lot of podcast interviews about how VOLBEAT started and how our style was. And I just think that brought some of the very, very heavy elements back in the VOLBEAT music. So there's not so many layers this time; it's straight from the hip, straight from the bone. There's a lot of guitars and a lot of riffing. It brings you back to old BLACK SABBATH with [Ronnie James] Dio, early METALLICA, even old-school death metal inspirations in there. And then we have a couple of songs that take you in the direction of 'Wait A Minute My Girl' or I'll even say a little bit more psychobilly vibe as THE CRAMPS — something like that."

"Wait A Minute My Girl" features saxophone player Doug Corcoran and piano player Raynier Jacob Jacildo, who both perform with JD McPherson's band and previously appeared with VOLBEAT on 2019's "Die To Live (feat. Neil Fallon)". Singer Mia Maja, who has worked with the band since "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie", also appears on backing vocals. "Dagen Før" features guest vocals from Danish artist Stine Bramsen, who is known for her solo work as well as being a member of the band ALPHABEAT. The song, in the tradition of "The Garden's Tale", "Maybele I Hofteholder" and "For Evigt", features both English and Danish lyrics, and marks the first commercially released song that features Stine singing in her native Danish.

Last month, VOLBEAT announced its first headlining shows in nearly two years. Punctuated by festival appearances at Rebel Rock (Orlando, Florida: September 23, 2021) and Aftershock festival (Sacramento, California: October 8, 2021),the eight-date headline run will see the band coming to cities including Atlanta, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Special guests THE HU, TWIN TEMPLE and MUNICIPAL WASTE will be joining them for select dates.