Creed frontman Scott Stapp says the reunited group is about "a week and a half away" from pre-production for its new album, tentatively titled "Full Circle." And he promises that "we're gonna have an album mixed and mastered in the next five weeks" hopefully for an August release."We're excited to share (the new music) with our fans, and we really have a lot we want to prove" after a five-year hiatus, Stapp tells Billboard.com. He says Creed -- which hits the road Aug. 6 for a 10-week tour -- has "13, 14 songs that we would consider as album keepers" for the group's first set of new material since 2001's "Weathered." We've written more than that, but we've got this many that are fighting for a spot on the record. So we're in a good place." The group plans to record in Nashville with producer Howard Benson.
Stapp says Creed came up with the song "Full Circle" during its first session playing together and hope to release that track as the album's first single, perhaps by late June. Other pending song titles include "A Thousand Faces," "Slow Suicide" and "Don't Give Up," and the frontman says there's "a lot of reflection" in the new material, much of which focuses on the "resolution" Stapp and his bandmates have found between each other and in their own lives.
"It's not a hopeless, complaining record," Stapp says. "It's telling stories, but it's also rocking out, man. We're rocking harder now with some of the songs than we ever have. It's from a different place and a different type of reflection and a different level of maturity, but we're a rock band, so there's still that brashness. There's a confidence and a swagger that I think we only feel collectively. Our music is fresh and still very connected to who we are and the sound we have, but it's also taken a natural evolution."
While preparing to record, Creed has also been focusing on its tour, with a repertoire that will include "all the Creed songs people want to hear" as well as the new material, plus plenty of pyrotechnics.
"We're working on putting on the biggest rock show we've ever done," Stapp reports. "We're all better performers and entertainers now, and real confident in the songs. We're really excited to present where we are today and just be able to stand up and feel that we're relevant now as a band."
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/creed-promises-new-album-this-summer-plenty-1003975755.story
