Def Leppard recently regrouped in Dublin, Ireland to write music for a new album, and now singer Joe Elliott is sharing an update on the project.
“Well, the new Def Leppard album is, at this moment in time, just a writing session that lasted the entire month of February,” Elliott tells Guitar International during an interview to promote “The Further Adventures Of...”, the new release by his side project Down N Outz. “We were hoping, at best, for three or four songs, maybe five. We ended up walking out of there with 12.”
“They’re all in various stages of undress, if you like,” he continued. “There are three songs that I think we could actually release tomorrow. The other nine are anywhere from having “la-la melodies” to “we need to record it properly’. But, we’ve filled them up with songs that will be in the album. We’ll probably pick 12 from 16 or something like that. But we’ve got 12, and I’m going to be working on one of them this evening.”
The singer revealed that the band have scheduled another writing session for the project.
“We’re all coming back to my place the last two weeks of May to do a bit more. It will probably be more writing than recording, because we don’t believe we’ve finished writing yet, even though we’ve got all those songs on the go,” he explains. “And then there’s the tour with Kiss this summer, which will take us through to September. In October, I’ll be producing Black Star Riders’ second album until the end of November and then go back and finish recording and mixing the Leppard record. The vocals get done last, so I’ll be singing up to and beyond Christmas. I’m hoping, fingers crossed, but I am making this up as I go along, so bear that in mind that we can actually deliver the CD by February 2015.”
Asked to describe the video of the new material, Elliott says, “It’s exactly what Def Leppard has come to be known for. Say from Hysteria onwards, there’s a lot more variety to what we did. On these new recordings, they’re all very much guitar-based, rock and roll songs – almost punk. Some of the stuff is Beatlesque with mellotron. We’re all over the place. It’s not unfocused; it’s not a collection of songs that all sound the same. It’s very, very wide cinemascope when it comes to the kind of tunes that we’ve written. There really is a bit of everything.”
Def Leppard will team up with KISS to launch a North American tour on June 23 in West Valley City, Utah.
See also:
Def Leppard bassist selling Irish home for $2.57 million
Def Leppard singer shares new album update
AUDIO: Def Leppard singer guests on Rockline
VIDEO: KISS and Def Leppard summer tour promo
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