Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness recently gave Rolling Stone an update on the band’s long-awaited new album, which will be their first since 2011’s Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. Mike said that he has been writing a lot of songs, and the band will begin work on the album after their upcoming U.S. tour, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of their 1990 classic self-titled album. He states:
“I’ve written a lot of songs, and I’ve got a lot of songs for another solo record. Once the summer tour is done, I can start figuring out the direction for the next record. It’s not as far along as I’d like it to be. Unfortunately, for us to do a new record, we have to stop touring because it’s pretty hard for me to write on the road.”
Asked when the album is expected for release, Mike replied, “We’re banking on 2016. It’s funny because I have the songs in my head but then I forget about them, and a couple came to mind the other day in rehearsal. These were songs I thought might be like filler songs. I showed them to the band, and they were just like, “Dude, that song’s fucking awesome, man.” So that made me think, “Maybe I’m further along than I realized.” So that was cool.”