Niki N. Phaser

             In a recent blog post on his official website, Linkin Park/Fort Minor member, Mike Shinoda gave fans an update on LP’s new LP. The band had their first meeting of the year, regarding the evolution of their future album, expected to be released, sometime in the summer/autumn of this year. It will be their fourth and the follow-up to the successful Minutes to Midnight. The MC seems happy with the way things are going and emphasizes a lot on the new direction of their recent songs. He even talks about initiating a new genre with this one, so the pressure to not repeat themselves seems to be really off. He also teases the army of fans, waiting for any new information: “I was going to tell you guys the working titles…but I changed my mind”, he writes. Though not a concept album, the new material is, so far, tied by “some thematic threads”, the producer also admits. Five songs are almost confirmed, with another 15-20 being worked on, a batch from which the final tracklisting is supposed to be picked. In earlier reports, there was talk of a more electronic sound, Blade Runner-inspired, but, as we all know, an album has many  gestation periods, so we’ll just have to wait and hear.

If you are a bit familiar with the history of Linkin Park, you would know that their 2007 album, Minutes to Midnight, was a crucial moment in the band’s evolution. A big difference from previous albums was that they got more in touch with their inner pop child and the result was several softer songs like Leave Out All The Rest, Valentine’s Day or In Pieces. This is a song where Chester Benington really exhibits his pop voice. There is no nu-metal screaming, just a lot of vulnerability and that “wounded soul’s power”, displayed in some of Linkin Park’s best songs. In fact, the whole track, lyrically speaking, sounds like a love song, but in LP style, which means plenty of imputations and emotional accusations like “There’s truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith, What you build you lay to waste”.

Musically, In Pieces represents a fortunate combination of numerous elements from distinct genres. The song is built on what sounds like a celesta riff. There are hip-hop synth beats and atmospherics effects courtesy of Mr. Hahn, but you also get real rockin’ drumming, both intense and complex. The vocals, as I said, are soft and quite balladesque. The second verse is punctuated by some Clashy guitar hits and speaking of guitars, Brad Delson’s solo really takes you back to some 80′s hard rock, something like AC/DC or Motorhead even. It’s a shame that Linkin Park didn’t saw a single in this one, but they certainly haven’t ignored it live.

LISTEN TO THE SONG HERE