Green Day say new album ‘Saviors’ “bridges the gap” between ‘Dookie’ and ‘American Idiot’ and “the best of” their career, say band
Green Day have said that their upcoming album ‘Saviors’ will be one that “bridges the gap” between fan-favourites ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Dookie’.
Billie-Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt first announced their 14th LP – which is the follow-up to 2020’s ‘Father Of All Motherfuckers’ – last month. It is set to arrive on January 19, 2024 via Reprise/Warner.
Now, the pop-punk trio have opened up about what fans can expect from the album in a new interview, and revealed that they see the LP as in line with some of their most famous past releases.
“I think that this record is sort of the best of everything that Green Day has,” Armstrong told 102.1 The Edge when asked if the band ever considered ‘Saviors’ as a “part two” of ‘American Idiot’.
“[It’s] the 30 years of experience that we have, kind of come together. Whether it’s something from ‘Dookie’ or American Idiot’, I think somehow we were able to bridge the gap in making something that is like an essential record for us.”
The frontman also went on to recall how the lead single from the LP, ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me’, was originally written around the same time as the band were releasing ‘Father Of All Motherfuckers’, but was put on ice until the members felt ready to take more of a political stance.
“‘The American Dream Is Killing Me’ originally was written about three or four years ago, so it’s technically the first song on the record. But for ‘Father Of All…’ we didn’t want to go political because it was so obvious. It was such low-hanging fruit because we had just terrible politics and terrible division in the United States.”
“But this time, we brought it out and it felt like it was the perfect time for it,” he added. “We got away from the politics for a while [because] we didn’t want to be like another pundit on CNN, finger-pointing.
“But political songs… It takes a lot of heart to do that. I think if you keep doing it for the sake of doing it, just because you’re angry, then you take the heart out of it. Then it just becomes part of what everyone is complaining about,” he explained. “So it takes those special, inspired moments to really have a moment like ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me’.”
The single was the first to be shared from ‘Saviors’, and has since been followed by the new track ‘Look Ma, No Brains!’
Earlier this week, the band also revealed the full tracklist from the upcoming release and, before that, gave both new singles a live debut at US shows. The lead track was showcased live for the first time at an intimate club show in Las Vegas, and the latter was performed during their second headline set at When We Were Young Festival 2023.
As well as labelling ‘Saviors’ as the bridge between two of their fan-favourite albums, Green Day will also be embarking on a huge world tour next year in support of the album, while also celebrating 30 years of ‘Dookie’ and 20 years of ‘American Idiot’.
Nothing But Thieves, The Hives, Donots, The Interrupters and Maid Of Ace are set to join as support across select dates and tickets can be found here.
Alongside the club show in US earlier this year, Green Day also played numerous intimate shows around Europe recently, including in Paris and at a London pub. They were also supposed to play at the Electric Ballroom on November 10, but the gig was pulled last minute due to illness.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
