Linkin Park Album #7

[lpliveusername]

Linkin Park have been officially working on the follow up to The Hunting Party non stop since November 2015 (they were in the studio in October, but left to play the last shows of 2015).
Since the band have no plans to tour until the album is finished and news have been a little slow lately, I decided to do a recap on the whole process so far.

For the first time, the band deciced to open their writing and recording process to fans through social media by posting pictures almost on a daily basis and doing live feeds on Facebook.
Also, by the end of each month, the band have been sending studio updates to their mailing list subscribers.

It's a known fact that Linkin Park never stops working on new music, and some early demos were created while they toured in support of The Hunting Party.
During Chester's recovery from his broken ankle last year, the band had a meeting at the studio to go through a few new demos they had already written. Some of them were "Spirals" (which had samples released on Stagelight), "All Our Days", "Hands Itch", and "Last Straw" (which eventually became "Welcome").
During the band's press conference in Shanghai in July, Mike also played a piece of new music he had been working on during their flight.
Listen at 2:10 in the video:

Originally working at Larrabee Studios, the band has since moved to a new studio because they wanted more space.
So far, there is no producer confirmed for the album and it's very likely this will be another self-produced record.
The band wants this to be their best album yet and is taking a lot of time crafting the songs. On the July update, they said the album is totally different from all their previous releases and that the band no longer has a stablished sound.
Rob says they don't try to guess if the fans will like the new songs because it could obscure their process.
They are trying a new approach to their recording process, working on words and melodies first before deciding the style of the songs.
This approach was actually suggested by Rick Rubin years past, but they never listened because they started always track first.
Some songs started with just one piano, keyboard, or guitar, and a vocal and they continued on this path until they felt like they've got more than enough material to begin the "sound" phase.
As of April, the band had 64 demos and started narrowing down their songs and recording "some keeper vocals". As of June, Mike says they've narrowed it down to under 20.

The foundations of the songs are there and he wants to get into experimentation mode and record more live instruments, using more live drums instead of programed beats.
The album might have a theme, they just need to figure it out. According to Mike, they have really poured their hearts into the words and melodies, making the songs really personal and revealing.

It's interesting to note that Scott Weiland's death last year inspired Chester to write what he called "some good fuckin music". So there might be a tribute to the former Stone Temple Pilots frontman on the way.
The new album will most likely be released in 2017 and still has no title.

Listen to a clip of new music posted by Ethan Mates here and a clip posted by Mike here.

 

As for collaborations, Linkin Park are collaborating in the studio with a wide variety of artists.
Anyone who they've enjoyed the work of in the past or who is interested in seeing what they're doing and how they work, they've invited in and hung out in the studio, whether it meant hanging out and eating lunch in the studio or doing some music and writing together. Kyle Lambert, who created artwork for the Netflix series Stranger Things, is an example of a non-musical guest they received on the studio.
On the July studio update, the band said so far the collaborators on the album are just songwriters.
After Fort Minor's tour wrapped up in September 2015 in London, Mike had some studio time with an undisclosed artist.
Jon Green of the English band The Bonfires started working with the band in November 2015 and was last seen in the studio in April 2016.
English producer Justin Parker was seen working with the band in February.
Dallas musician Conner Youngblood was seen working with the band in March, playing a theremin. This is the first time this instrument was used on a Linkin Park song!
The titles "Nobody Can Save Me J Green 2", "Invisible - MS with Justin Parker" and "Conn-District 108" were revealed in picture posted by Ethan Mates on Facebook.
That same month, two titles were added to Linkin Park's song catalog at BMI, both giving credits to the Californian producer Brian Howes as their sole composer and songwriter.
Note that this could simply be a mistake on BMI's database as we are yet to hear from the band about them working with Brian Howes. The titles were "Ricochet" and "What Are You Worth".
American producer Quincy Jones, known for his work with Michael Jackson, was seen in the studio in June.
In June, LA-based producer and singer-songwriter Blackbear revealed he was in the studio with Linkin Park. He was seen working with the band again this month and posted a clip of a new song on his Snapchat account.
And finally, yesterday the band posted a picture with Taka, singer of the Japanese band One Ok Rock, but it's yet unknown if they actually recorded something together.

Meanwhile, the band members have also done collaborations for other artist's albums.
In early November, Mike recorded "Waiting For Tomorrow" with Martin Garrix and Pierce Fulton. The song was debuted live during Garrix' set at the Ultra Music Festival and since them, part of its studio version has leaked.
When asked if the song would be released as a single, Garrix said it will probably just be on the album, which will probably come out at the end of the year.
Chester and Mike met with Mike Baczor of the band Her0 in May to collaborate on a song for his debut solo album.
On that same month, a The Lonely Island song featuring the duo, called "Things In My Jeep", was released on the soundtrack of the Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping film.
In late May, Jensen Karp premiered a new Hot Karl (Jensen's rap name) song during his Get Up On This podcast. The song "Like Riding A Bike", was produced by Mike Shinoda and features verses from Mike, Ali Abnormal and Intuition. A slightly different version of it was released for free download a few days later on Jensen Karp's SoundCloud account.
It's also important to note that in late 2012, DJ Fresh recorded a track with Linkin Park, originally for his Nextlevelism album. He later went on to say he was still working with the band.
Since them, he has released 8 singles but no album yet, so it's still possible that the track will see a release in the near future.

 

So, what do you guys think about the whole process so far?

Are you excited for the new album?

 

For a list of all known working titles so far, check the Working Titles thread.

Edited August 27, 2016 by lpliveusername

[KeysToTheLinkinPark]

American producer Quincy Jones, known for his work with Michael Jackson, was seen in the studio in June.

 

Where did you get that? I know that one photo with Mike

[crazygolfer]

Also, they've been in the studio since September.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

Good to have all the info in the same place, it would be cool if you update this thread everytime something interesting comes up.

[vinifeijo]

Some things to add:

- Wasn't a theremin used in New Divide? I really think so, Mike even played it live sometimes.

- Jon Green posted a picture on instagram and deleted short after, because it had a lot of demos names. Some people saved the picture and could read a lot of names from it:

 

1. Out of Reach - Staring Back
2. Sleepwalking - Lost At Horizon
3. Hands & Knees - Talking To Myself
4. ...... - Bike Escape
5. This ...... (my home) - /
6. Can we go back - Can we go back ..... future
7. ...... (enemy) - ...... I can't outrun
8. ...... enough - Locked Outside
9. ...... - Heavy

[Michelbeats]

2. Sleepwalking - Lost At Horizon
Hmm... Bring Me The Horizon has a song called Sleepwalking

[Broman]

Just coincidence as far as we know.

[RogueSoul]

2. Sleepwalking - Lost At Horizon

Hmm... Bring Me The Horizon has a song called Sleepwalking

Lol, this is exactly what I thought when I saw it

 

I think we can count this as official, I'm pretty sure we've known Sleepwalking as a demo title for awhile now - didn't it leak on the picture of the whiteboard we saw?

[Astat]

 

Some things to add:

 

- Wasn't a theremin used in New Divide? I really think so, Mike even played it live sometimes.

 

- Jon Green posted a picture on instagram and deleted short after, because it had a lot of demos names. Some people saved the picture and could read a lot of names from it:

 

1. Out of Reach - Staring Back

2. Sleepwalking - Lost At Horizon

3. Hands & Knees - Talking To Myself

4. ...... - Bike Escape

5. This ...... (my home) - /

6. Can we go back - Can we go back ..... future

7. ...... (enemy) - ...... I can't outrun

8. ...... enough - Locked Outside

9. ...... - Heavy

 

Theremin wasn't used on New Divide - Mike had a theremin that functioned as a hands-free MIDI controller for performances during the ATS era so he could control filter/oscillation synth parameters without having to manually twist knobs mid-song (he used this on When They Come for Me at the time, as well), but it wasn't for stuff that originated on a theremin.

 

The majority of those demo titles were deciphered months ago: http://lplive.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=12128&page=6&do=findComment&comment=264035

[vinifeijo]

Nice, Astat. Thanks!

[lpliveusername]

Good to have all the info in the same place, it would be cool if you update this thread everytime something interesting comes up.

Updated.

[NJPLP]

On 8/9/2016 at 4:35 PM, lpliveusername said:

Chester and Mike met with Mike Baczor of the band Her0 in May to collaborate on a song for his debut solo album.

Do you mean May 2016?

 

Edit: Nevermind.

Edited June 10, 2022 by NJPLP