“Even without a guitar in my hands, the music just comes to me. I had 80 or 90 tracks”: Yngwie Malmsteen announces 23rd studio album, Hell or High Water – hear the first single

Yngwie Malmsteen photographed with his signature Fender Stratocaster in London while promoting his album Blue Lightning, on January 30, 2019 — (Image credit: Jesse Wild/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Yngwie Malmsteen has announced his new studio album, Hell or High Water, set to be released on November 13 via Music Theories Recordings/Artone Label Group. It will mark his 23rd solo album, following 2021's Parabellum.

Speaking about Hell or High Water, Malmsteen says, “When I started making records, I would just take the songs I had lying around.

“Later on, I fell into a schedule – make a record, tour the record, and then write the next record. Over the pandemic, I realized it was better to focus completely uninterrupted, so I stayed at home to write this album over the course of eight months. I had around 80 or 90 tracks finished, and then I had to decide which ones were the strongest.”

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Malmsteen went on to detail the meticulous songwriting process that led to this album. “Even without a guitar in my hands, the music just comes to me,” he reasons. “It’s like that movie Amadeus. Mozart was getting music given to him in complete form.

“I understand the building blocks and can therefore build you anything you like. If you asked me to write you a death metal song, call me back in five minutes, and I’d have it ready for you. You want country and western or reggae? No problem. I can give you whatever you want.”

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The guitar maestro likens the songs he chooses for his records to “gifts” that he “captures” because “they amaze” him, as exemplified by the palm-muted riffing and baroque inflections of Now Or Never – or the instrumental piece Am Caprice/Hell Or High Water.

Virtuosic capabilities aside, closing track Father takes a more personal turn, as it pays homage to his late dad, who passed away last year.

“He was an amazing man,” says Malmsteen. “I was proud to have him as a father, and I loved him. I wanted to dedicate all of this to him, and that one particular track is for him. I wanted others to feel what I felt when they hear it.”

Ahead of his album release, Malmsteen is set to embark on a tour of China and Japan, kicking off in Beijing on September 4.

For more information about his album and tour, head to Yngwie Malmsteen’s official website.

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Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology and how it is shaping the future of the music industry, and has a special interest in shining a spotlight on traditionally underrepresented artists and global guitar sounds. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Auf der Maur, Yvette Young, Danielle Haim, Fanny, and Karan Katiyar from Bloodywood, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her Anglo-Maltese, art-rock band ĠENN.