Linkin Park mainman Mike Shinoda says he and the band are off to a “good start” on The Hunting Party follow-up.
They began work on the as-yet-untitled album in December and returned to the studio earlier this month to continue sessions on what will be their seventh full-length release.
And while Shinoda reports it’s still early days, they’ll hopefully launch the record later this year.
He says in a video message: “It’s going well. It’s going to be the second half of this year but we’ve started and we’ve got some songs.
“I feel like it’s a really good start. We don’t have any names for songs – mostly just vocals, piano and acoustic guitar and some samples. And as stripped down as that is, we’re all really happy and excited about where things are going.”
As for the direction the album will take, Shinoda, who last year praised hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, says that aspect is still up in the air – although he confirms it’ll be a departure from their 2014 release.
He continues: “With every record we want to learn, we want to get outside our comfort zone and we want to do stuff that makes us excited. So it’s safe to say the next record won’t sound like the last record – it might not sound like any of them.
“We’re always messing with new sounds. We’re big fans of a lot of different types of music. Right now I’m listening to a lot of hip-hop and indie, electro stuff.”
Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington confirmed in November that he’d parted ways with Stone Temple Pilots.
