For over a decade, Matchbox Twenty fans were twiddling their thumbs waiting for new music. Following the release of North in 2012, the award-winning band went on an unannounced hiatus.
Videos by American Songwriter
The men are now gearing up for their triumphant return with the album, Where The Light Goes. Frontman Rob Thomas previously told Billboard that he never expected to push out another full-length album with the band.
“We were pretty much at a place where we didn’t think we were ever going to make a full-length record. Going into 2020, it was, ‘Let’s record a couple of songs to accompany the tour, and then maybe that’s our business model—we tour every couple of years, and we maybe release a song or two.’ That didn’t excite Paul,” he recalled about co–founder Paul Doucette. “He wasn’t sure how much effort he wanted to put into a couple of songs, so he was like, ‘If you guys want to run with that, go for it.’ So during that time, Paul listened to [the song] “Where the Light Goes,” and he was just like, ‘I like that one, maybe you guys should work on that.’ And me and Kyle worked on it.”
After working in the studio, lead guitarist Kyle Cook sparked the idea around an LP and encouraged his bandmates to keep their creative wheels turning.
“It was Kyle who would start the conversation of, ‘Maybe we do want to make a full-length record— we’re gonna be sitting at home, we’re not gonna be doing anything this summer, and that would make next summer even more exciting for people that have been waiting for three years. It’s another level of excitement to that touring process.’ So that just got the ball rolling,” said Thomas. “In the grand scheme of things, this record came together probably more quickly than any record we’ve ever done,” added Doucette.
The band picked up exactly where they left off. They mentioned that the creative process was natural, like old times.
“Some things are just very automatic. You’re just like, this is how this works, I see where you’re going with that, let me pick that up. It’s happening amongst a group of guys who are ten years older than the last time we did it—and the last time we did it, we weren’t young,” explained Thomas.
While many of their old habits remained the same, they said that their communication with one another become stronger.
“We’re very precious with other people’s feelings and other people’s ideas. So I feel like everything about it that was different was only for the better,” said Thomas. “The benefit of age is just being better at that, at being more conscious of each other’s feelings. You can have that conversation in a healthy way.”
The forthcoming record covers various topics, from self-discovery to taking chances and searching for a positive light in a dark world. The 12-song tracklist will arrive on Friday, May 26.
Photo by Jimmy Fontaine / Atlantic Records
