Buckingham tells Billboard that he, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie "cut eight songs" with producer Mitchell Froom last year after Fleetwood Mac decided it would be touring this year. Three of those - "Sad Angel," "It Takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy" - are part of the new EP, as well as "Without You," resurrected by Stevie Nicks from the Buckingham Nicks days before they joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975.
Buckingham says "it may be too early to tell where things are going to go" with the remaining songs, but he adds that "it's safe to say there is more than these four songs that you're going to hear from Fleetwood Mac - it's just a question of how and when, y'know?"
The "when," of course, is complicated by Fleetwood Mac's current tour, which crosses North America through July 6 and then heads to Europe in September. But Buckingham acknowledges that "Extended Play" has certainly given the veteran group a fresh perspective on releasing new music rather than the drama and trauma of making an entire album, as it's done in the past.
"When I was growing up, EPs were all over the place," Buckingham notes. "When I was growing up, albums were not really an art form; the single was the thing, and in some ways it has gotten back to that a little bit. The whole thing is just kind of wide open now, and it really is tantalizing to be able to put together just a few things, three or four songs on an EP. There is something quite effective about that, for sure. I have no preconceptions one way or the other in terms of what Fleetwood Mac will do or even what Fleetwood Mac should do. You just do what you can do and what makes sense logically -- and politically."
Fleetwood Mac See also:
Fleetwood Mac guitarist discusses band’s first new music in 10 years
Fleetwood Mac release first new music in 10 years
