Billie Joe Armstrong Talks New Green Day Music: "I’ve Been Writing A Lot…"
Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong says that lyrics he's currently writing are "kind of more self-deprecating and funny" than political.
While fans have clearly not been starved of new Billie Joe Armstrong material in 2020 (on top of Green Day's 4K-rated Father Of All… album, he's also releasing a full collection of No Fun Mondays covers and a new The Network record), the musician has revealed that he's "been writing a lot" this year, and even has a lyrical direction starting to take shape when it comes to his day job.
Speaking to NME, the Green Day frontman explains that he is "always putting something together – whether it’s a full demo in my small studio or just some voice notes on my phone", with writers' block seemingly not affecting him as he will often work on cover songs "just to keep the momentum going".
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When asked if the follow-up to this year's Father Of All… "could come around quite quickly" due to the unexpected downtime that his hit everyone in 2020, Billie Joe ponders, "It’s possible. Whether we do a full-length album or an EP or just a song, we have a lot of different options. It’s a matter of whenever the right moment happens. That’s the beauty of the way you can put music out these days. You don’t have to wait for any gatekeeper to tell you that the timing is right."
Speaking of the potential lyrical direction of Green Day's next material, Billie Joe continues, "There’s a certain amount of isolation and feeling paranoid on the last album that fit with where we are as a society. The way we get information is almost like have voices inside your head.
"With the new stuff that I’m writing, I don’t know – a lot of it is kind of more self-deprecating and funny. Not that I’m doing a comedy record or anything. On one hand it feels autobiographical and funny, but on the other when you look at it you can put a social commentary twist to it."