No, you are not reading that title wrong — you can re-read it all you want, but the words will not be changing. The Red Hot Chili Peppers — world-renowned funk-rock legends who have sold over 80 million albums — are currently in the studio recording their twelfth album. This will be their third record with current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and (although unconfirmed as of now) second with producer Danger Mouse. Since so little has been released regarding the upcoming album, and because it will undoubtedly be one of the biggest album releases of 2019, I will try to predict what to expect from one of history’s least predictable musical groups.
Josh Klinghoffer has come under lots of scrutiny during his years as a Chili Pepper. However, the criticisms pointed towards the band’s youngest member have less to do with him as a guitarist, and more to do with the fact that John Frusciante, an all-time great, is no longer their guitarist. Although unfair to Josh, fans do have a bit of a point — few people heard of The Red Hot Chili Peppers before John’s debut on Mother’s Milk (1989). He helped excel them to fame with Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) before being a part of three more wildly successful albums: Californiacation (1999), By The Way (2002), and Stadium Arcadium (2006). Nothing the Chili Peppers have done since John’s official departure in 2009 has been as successful, with the exception of one or two singles. That being said, Josh is still a scarily good guitarist. His debut Chili Peppers album, I’m With You (2011), did not feature him as much as it could have, but it did undoubtedly show flashes of brilliant musicianship from the whole band. With The Getaway (2016), the Chili Peppers slightly changed their style — which they seem to have done a lot over the years — and produced an all-around great album that had more lead guitar (though I still wish it was more prominent). I am optimistic that Josh will keep asserting himself more musically as he grows increasingly comfortable with the rest of the members.
For me, one point of concern would be if Danger Mouse produces this next record. He did a good job with The Getaway, but it still seemed too safe to be a Red Hot Chili Peppers album. Unlike his predecessor, Rick Rubin, Danger Mouse scrapped a lot more creative ideas than he let develop. This resulted in a clean sound, but cleanliness is not exactly something fans feel they need from a band whose bassist played all of Woodstock ‘99 completely naked. If Danger Mouse produces the next album, I am confident it will be good, but I am very skeptical that it would be comparable to some of their earlier work with John — even if Josh is more prominently featured.
As of now, all we have to go off of is the fact that there will be an album this year, and that is already great news. Other than that, there has been some speculation that the video below is a teaser of new material, while some just think that it is a live jam. Either way, it is everything you would want it to be — funky, energetic, and the singing is horrifically off-key.
Article by Shayan Shirkhodai