The Red Hot Chili Peppers have almost finished recording their new album. This new albums features a return of guitarist John Frusciante, drummer Chad Smith reveals.
There wasn't much detailed added to the follow up to RHCP's 2016 album The Getaway. The band's second last album to feature Josh Klinghoffer, who took on Frisciante's position for about a decade. It was said the release will be tied in to their upcoming tour dates.
Smith said "John's been back for a while now, so it feels completely natural."We're really listening to each other in a new way." He spoke of Frusciante, "He's so dedicated. He's so into it. He's working so hard. We're all working hard, but he's in there with all the overdubs and the magic that he brings."
That brings good news for Red Hot Chili Pepper fans, as they've been left waiting for a tour and an album since the Covid-19 pandemic smashed the world. "We were gonna play some festivals that obviously got postponed." explained Smith "So we could just plow through and write, and that's what we did. It was kind of a blessing because we want to come out with new music and play some new songs. It's gonna be great when we finally go out next year and have a record to play. And a bunch of other stuff, obviously."
Will fans notice a big change in music when the new album drops?
"John hasn't been in our group in 10 years," Smith said. "That's a long time. So of course it's going to sound different. It's gonna sound like the four of us because we do have this special chemistry together. It sounds like Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it's different and new."
He continued, "We really like it and we're proud of it and it has to start there. If other people like it, great. If people compare it to this or [say] it doesn't sound like that, we have no control over that. But, yeah, we're all really happy with the record."
Left and returned and left and returned again
John Frusciante joined the Chili Peppers after the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988. This was the lineup that brought the well known albums - "Mother's Milk" and "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". These albums brought RHCP to the mainstream. Unfortunately Frusciante fell into a heavy heroin addiction that caused him to leave the group. This was during the tour for "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". Six years later Frusciante rejoined the band. He played on their 1999 album 'Californication", "By The Way" in 2002 and "Stadium Arcadium" in 2006 and then he quit again in September 2009.
In October 2020 when talking to Double J Frusciante said playing with them was like "returning to family. I'm extremely comfortable with those people. It was as if no time had gone by at all when we started playing. With a couple of minor exceptions, like how Chad and I gradually got our communication together in a new way. Basically, we're all just as comfortable with each other as we ever were. It just felt like that right off the bat."