Tom DeLonge: "This Next Record Is Probably Going To Be The Best Of My Life"

2019 marked the long-awaited return of Tom DeLonge's Angels & Airwaves – but there's even more to come next year.

While the band dropped two singles – Rebel Girl and Kiss & Tell – and hit the road for their first tour in a whopping seven years, 2020 will bring with it even more activity from the band. For starters: there's going to be a brand-new AVA album, and Tom is already incredibly proud of the work he's done on it in the studio so far.

“This next record is probably going to be the best of my life," he tells Kerrang! in the latest issue of the magazine. "I have a lot to say, and I’ve been gone for a while, so I feel like I’m more prolific a songwriter than I’ve ever been. Angels & Airwaves aren’t pigeonholed into any one particular sound, and our fans are absolutely feverish about what we do and the message of the band. They really support who we are, so it’s a really great spot to be in.”

As well as a new full-length, Tom's To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science company are also working on a movie to accompany the release – production of which started in July. And the musician reveals that progress so far is "super good".

"To The Stars has many big projects, one of which being the film that is accompanying this album," Tom says. "All of that will come out together as we tour the record next year. You’ll start to see all the pieces of all the media that I’ve been doing come out with the show, and it’ll be a multimedia experience. That’s always been the dream for the band, but we just haven’t had the chance to do that yet.”

For all Tom's excitement, he nevertheless had some worries about getting the Angels & Airwaves machine back up and rolling to play gigs once again. Thankfully, though, everything is all smooth sailing now.

“There was nervousness going back into it," he admits. "Angels & Airwaves is a really complex show. It’s different than blink-182, where blink was more about anarchy, and fun, and rebellion, and you could play however you wanted to play. The joy of it was the fact that it was rough around the edges (laughs)! Angels & Airwaves is a completely different beast – but it ended up being in the top couple of tours of my life, and also, by far, it was the most professional I’ve ever played. It feels really good, and I’ve got a lot of pride in that band and what we’ve achieved.”

Tom's full interview is available to read in the new issue of Kerrang!, which you can get anywhere in the world through Kerrang.Newsstand.co.uk. Or, if you live in the UK, you can grab it now from all good newsagents.

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