Matt Skiba says he wrote “almost a whole album” of new material with Blink-182 before exit
Matt Skiba has revealed that he wrote “almost a whole album” of new material with Blink-182 before he left the group.
The Alkaline Trio vocalist joined Blink-182 in 2015 following the departure of guitarist Tom DeLonge. Skiba recorded two albums with the group – 2016’s ‘California’ and 2019’s ‘Nine’ – before leaving earlier this year to make way for DeLonge’s return.
Now, Skiba has revealed that Blink-182 were working on a follow-up to ‘Nine’ that was scrapped following Mark Hoppus’ cancer diagnosis.
Speaking to Vulture, Skiba said: “There’s almost a whole album’s worth of stuff. It was supposed to be an EP, and it just kept going, and going. And now we have, I don’t know if they’re just going to get scrapped, but there’s eight or nine brand-new Blink-182 songs that are done. We basically finished those, and then Mark was diagnosed, if I’m getting the timeline correct.”
“I hadn’t even thought about those recordings. But I have them. They’re good songs. I’ll keep them a secret. I’ll keep them safe forever. But we’ll see. I don’t know, maybe they’re something that we could open up and look at differently, or it’s something that’ll come out later, I have no idea,” he continued.
Ahead of the release of ‘Nine’, Hoppus spoke about a follow-up Blink-182 EP featuring collaborations with Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrell Williams while Barker has mentioned a track with Juice Wrld on numerous occasions. As it stands, none of those tracks have been released.
Skiba spoke to NME last year about joining Blink-182, saying he got a lot of hate for stepping into DeLonge’s shoes, but “it only lasted until we started playing shows.”
“The overwhelming amount of support and graciousness the fans have shown me overpowers any hate or shit-talking. It feels like our band – Mark, Travis, me and the fans. It’s not the same band without Tom but it has the same name, and I think there’s a good reason for that.”
Blink-182’s classic lineup of Hoppus, Barker and DeLonge reunited earlier this month to release new single ‘Edging’ ahead of their “most progressive” album and a world tour.
Following the news, DeLonge shared an open letter to Skiba, thanking him “for all that you have done to keep the band thriving in my absence.”
Skiba has since said he’s “truly grateful for my time with Blink and I am truly happy you guys are a band and a family again.”
Blink-182’s world tour kicks off next March in Latin America and conclude in February 2024 with a run of dates across Australia and New Zealand. For the UK leg, Blink-182 will visit Glasgow, London, Birmingham and Manchester in September and October 2023 – check out the full list of dates here.
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Ali Shutler
NME
