Tom DeLonge Says Upcoming Blink-182 Reunion Album Is ‘The Best’ One They’ve Ever Made
Tom DeLonge gave Blink-182 fans an early Christmas gift last month when he revealed that the first album from the reunited band is coming “in a few months.” Then, on Christmas Eve, DeLonge pulled the curtain back a bit more and promised fans that the best is yet to come.
“This is the best album we’ve ever made. Buckle up,” wrote co-vocalist/guitarist DeLonge in an Instagram post that featured an image of the cartoon rabbit from one of the band’s 1999 tour posters. “I’m personally tripping and so proud of what we have created TOGETHER. As one unified force of fun, eternal youth, and most of all- close friends.”
DeLonge — who rejoined the band in 2022 after leaving for a second time in 2014 — tagged bandmates drummer Travis Barker and singer/bassist Mark Hoppus in the post about the eagerly awaited follow-up to the trio’s 2019 album Nine, their second, and final, studio effort featuring fill-in third member Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio).
While a release date and title for the new album have not yet been announced, the collection’s first single, “Edging,” has been on a tear at alternative radio, logging two months atop the alt radio tally. Last month DeLonge also promised that “the next single that’s coming is [fire emoji].”
As part of the slow leak of information, last month Hoppus described the follow-up to the trio’s last studio album together, 2011’s Neighborhoods, with a fire emoji, followed by a metal salute emoji. Plus, Hoppus posted what appeared to be some very on-brand lyrics from what appeared to be another new song.
“I like to eat cheese/ In my U-Haul/ And drink so much beer/ I never poop at all/ I put my dog down/ And pulled my grandma’s plug/ I was getting kinda used to be someone you loved,” read the lyrics. The latter appeared to reveal that the lyrics may have been a gag (or not), as the last line was cribbed from Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved.” That inclusion inspired the English pop singer to respond, “This is the best day of my life.”
Barker also weighed in in December, posting a killer, triple-time drum solo from the studio with the caption, “Anthem Pt. 3.” The first “Anthem” appeared on the group’s 1999 breakthrough Enema of the State album, with the sequel showing up on their follow-up fourth full-length, 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
The reunited trio’s massive world tour is slated to kick off on March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico at the Imperial GNP festival and keep the band on the road in South America and Mexico through April 2 before shifting to North America on May 4 with a show at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota; those dates will run through a July 16 gig in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena and then move on to Europe in September and Australia/New Zealand in early 2024.
See DeLonge’s post below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
