American classic-rock band Journey have released The Way We Used To Be, their first single in over a decade.
The track – which is the first to feature Journey's current lineup of Neal Schon, Arnel Pineda, Jonathan Cain, Narada Michael Walden, Randy Jackson and Jason Derlatka – features a plethora of soaring, gain-heavy lead guitar lines from Schon interwoven with Pineda's quintessentially Journey-style vocals.
Watch the accompanying animated music video below.
And it appears there's more where that came from. In an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year, Schon confirmed the band were “deep in” the recording process for their next album.
“It's coming along, man,” he said. “It's really shaping up. Narada and I have been working nonstop. Jonathan is also working from his houses in Florida and Nashville. Arnel is working from Manila. Randy Jackson is working mostly from LA.
“It's one of those Zoom sessions and it sounds phenomenal. It sounds like we're all playing in the room at the same time. I actually can't wait until we do get together and start putting the show together.”
With regard to whether the new album will see a change in musical direction for Journey, Schon explained: “You have to hear it for yourself... It's coming together. It's got a new strut to it.”
“There's nothing we really can't play,” he continued. “We aren't afraid to go to new places. It's easy to stay safe and write where we have always been. We have a bit of that so we don't lose everyone, but at the same token, this is a new chapter of Journey. I want to go where we have not gone before.”
In a separate interview with Cleveland.com – also in January – Schon revealed that the band had 21 songs prepped for the new album.
“It's bombastic. It's rocking. It's majestic, and it's soulful,” he explained. “We have 21 songs in the works right now and there's still more coming in. we'll end up picking the cream of the crop and put out a killer album.”
The forthcoming album is set to be Journey's 15th full-length effort, after 2011's Eclipse.
